THR  COMPANY  OF  ROYAL  ADVhNTURCRS 
TRADING  INTO  AFRICA 


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THE  COMPANY  OF  ROYAL  ADVENTURERS 
TRADING  INTO  AFRICA 


BY 

! 

GEORGE  FREDERICK  ZOOK 


A  THESIS 

Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  Cornell 

University  for  the  Degree  of  Doctor 

of  Philosophy 


Reprinted  from 
The  Journal  of  Negro  History,  Vol.  IV,  No.  2,  April,  1919 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

I919 


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INTEODUCTION 

The  English  commercial  companies  trading  to  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies have  practically  escaped  the  attention  of  historical 
students.  Doubtless  this  neglect  is  the  result  of  the  little 
importance  which  has  until  recently  been  attached  to  African 
territory  since  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  Previous 
to  that  time  the  west  coast  of  Africa  vied  with  the  East 
Indies  for  popular  attention,  and  the  English  African  com- 
panies often  appeared  to  be  but  little  less  important  than 
the  great  East  India  Company. 

The  cause  for  the  popular  esteem  of  the  African  coast 
during  the  earlier  centuries  was  the  intimate  connection 
which  the  slave  trade  had  with  the  development  of  the  Eng- 
lish plantations  in  the  West  Indies.  About  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century  the  growing  of  sugar  cane  and 
other  products  in  the  West  Indies  began  to  open  up  enor- 
mous possibilities  which,  it  was  universally  agreed,  could 
be  realized  only  by  the  extensive  use  of  Negro  slaves.  At 
the  restoration  of  Charles  II  in  1660  the  English  commer- 
cial class  directly  supported  and  assisted  by  the  king^s 
courtiers  determined  to  secure  as  large  a  portion  of  the 
West  African  coast  as  possible.  To  reach  this  end  they  or- 
ganized that  year  The  Company  of  the  Royal  AdveMurers 
into  Africa.  This  decision  at  once  brought  the  company 
into  conflict  with  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  which, 
during  the  twenty  years  of  domestic  trouble  in  England,  had 
all  but  monopolized  the  desirable  portion  of  the  West 
African  coast. 

It  happened  therefore  that  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Ad- 
venturers played  a  very  important  part  in  the  events  which 
led  up  to  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  of  1665-67.  The  war  re- 
sulted in  the  financial  ruin  of  the  company  which  was  in 
existence  only  about  eleven  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 

iii 


438230 


iv  The  Company  of  Royal.  Adventueees 

it  was  succeeded  by  the  mucli  larger  and  better  organized 
Eoyal  African  Company. 

It  has  seemed  to  the  author  as  if  the  English  African 
companies  were  a  very  profitable  field  of  historical  investi- 
gation. Therefore,  the  present  dissertation  on  the  Com- 
pany of  Royal  Adventurers  will  be  followed  shortly  by  a 
history  of  the  Royal  African  Company,  1672-1752. 

For  assistance  in  writing  the  history  of  the  Royal  Ad- 
venturers Trading  into  Africa  I  wish  to  acknowledge  my 
indebtedness  to  the  librarians,  and  officials  of  the  British 
Record  Office,  the  British  Museum,  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford,  the  Rijks  Archief  at  The  Hague,  and  the  Cornell 
University  Library.  To  Professor  R.  C.  H.  Catterall,  now 
deceased,  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  reading  the  manuscript 
of  this  book,  and  for  many  valuable  suggestions.  Above 
all,  I  wish  to  express  my  deep  appreciation  to  my  wife, 
Susie  Zook,  for  her  unfailing  inspiration  and  her  constant 
assistance  in  the  writing  of  this  book. 

Geoege  F.  Zook. 
Washington, 

rebmary  10,  1»1* 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

Introduction iii 

I.  Early  Dutch  and  English  Trade  to  West  Africa. . .  1 

II.  The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England 8 

III.  On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa 28 

rV.  The  Royal  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations 71 

Bibliography  97 


THE  COMPANY  OF  ROYAL  ADVENTURERS  OF 
ENGLAND  TRADING  INTO  AFRICA,  1660-1672 


CHAPTER  I 

Eakly  Dutch  and  English  Tkade  to  West  Afkica 

In  1581  the  seven  United  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands 
declared  their  independence  of  Spain.  As  the  intrepid 
Dutch  sailors  ventured  out  from  their  homeland  they  met 
not  only  the  ships  of  their  old  master,  Philip  II,  but  those  of 
the  Portuguese  as  well.  Since  the  government  of  Portugal 
had  just  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Philip  II  the  Dutch  ships 
could  expect  no  more  consideration  from  Portuguese  than 
from  Spanish  vessels.  Notwithstanding  the  manifest  dan- 
gers the  prospects  of  obtaining  the  coveted  products  of  the 
Portuguese  colonies  inspired  the  Dutch  to  such  a  great  ex- 
tent that  in  1595  Bernard  Ereckson  sailed  to  the  west  coast 
of  Africa,  at  that  time  usually  called  Guinea.  There  he  and 
the  Dutch  who  followed  him  discovered  that  the  Portug-uese 
had  long  occupied  the  trading  points  along  the  coast,  and 
had  erected  forts  and  factories  wherever  it  seemed  advis- 
able for  the  purpose  of  defense  and  trade.  The  Dutch  mer- 
chants and  sailors  turned  their  dangerous  situation  into  an 
opportunity  to  despoil  the  weakened  Portuguese  of  their 
forts  and  settlements  in  Africa. 

On  August  25,  1611,  the  Dutch  made  a  treaty  with  a 
native  prince  by  which  a  place  called  Mauree  was  ceded  to 
them.  In  the  following  year  they  erected  at  that  place  a 
fort  which  they  named  F'ort  Nassau.^  Shortly  after  this, 
in  1617,  they  bought  the  island  of  Goree  at  Cape  Verde 
from  the  natives  in  that  region.    Four  years  later  the  "West 

1  Jonge,  Johan  Karel  Jakob  de,  Be  Oorsprong  van  Neerland^s  Besittingen 
op  de  Kust  van  Guinea,  p.  16. 

1 


2  .^ ,.  .' .  'Tkij  Company  of  Royal  Adventueees 

India  Company  was  formed,  its  charter  including  not  only 
the  West  Indies  and  New  Amsterdam  but  also  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.  This  new  organization  found  much  in  the 
new  world  to  occupy  its  attention  but  it  did  not  neglect  the 
Guinea  coast.  The  Dutch  realized  that  the  African  trade 
was  indispensable  to  their  West  India  colonies  as  a  means 
of  supplying  slave  labor.  Hostilities,  therefore,  were  con- 
tinued against  the  Portuguese,  who  still  had  possession  of 
the  principal  part  of  the  African  trade.  In  1625  the  Dutch 
made  a  vigorous  attempt  to  capture  the  main  Portuguese 
stronghold  at  St.  George  d'Elmina,  which  had  been  founded 
on  the  Gold  Coast  in  1481.^  They  were  unsuccessful  at  that 
time  but  in  1637  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau  with  1,200  men 
succeeded  in  capturing  this  base  of  the  Portuguese  trade.^ 
In  1641  a  ten  years '  truce  was  signed  between  Portugal  and 
the  United  Provinces,  but  before  the  news  of  the  truce  had 
reached  the  coast  of  Guinea  the  Dutch  had  taken  another 
of  the  Portuguese  strongholds  at  Axim  which,  according 
to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  they  were  permitted  to  retain. 
From  these  various  places  factories  were  settled  along  the 
coast,  and  treaties  made  with  the  native  rulers.  Further- 
more, in  the  treaty  of  peace,  August  6,  1661,  the  Dutch  re- 
tained the  forts  and  factories  which  they  had  conquered 
from  the  Portuguese  on  the  African  coast.^  After  the  truce 
of  1641  and  the  peace  of  1661,  therefore,  the  Dutch  regarded 
themselves  as  having  succeeded  to  the  exclusive  claims  of 
the  Portuguese  to  a  large  portion  of  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
including  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  to  the  Gold  Coast.^ 

Although  it  was  the  Dutch  who  succeeded  in  depriving 
the  Portuguese  of  the  most  important  part  of  the  West 
African  coast,  the  interest  shown  by  the  English  in  this 
region  can  be  traced  back  to  a  much  earlier  date.  In  1481, 
when  two  Englishmen  were  preparing  an  expedition  to  the 
Guinea  coast,  John  II,  king  of  Portugal,  despatched  an  am- 

2Gramberg,  J.  S.  G.,  Schetsen  van  Afrilca's  Westcust,  p.  12. 
8  Jonge,  Oorsprong  van  Neerland's  Bezittingen,  pp.  18,  19,  20. 
*In  return  for  this  concession  tlie  Ihitcli  evacuated  Brazil.     Dumont,  J., 
Corps  Universel  Diplomatique  du  Droit  des  Gens,  VI,  part  2,  p.  367. 
6De  Gids,  <*Derde  Serie,''  Zesde  Jaargang,  IV,  385. 


Early  Trade  to  West  Africa  3 

bassador  to  the  English  king,  to  announce  the  overlordship 
of  Guinea  which  he  had  recently  assumed,  and  to  request 
that  the  two  Englishmen  should  refrain  from  visiting  the 
Guinea  coast.  Edward  IV  complied  with  this  request.^ 
Thereafter  no  English  expedition  to  Guinea  was  attempted 
until  1536  when  William  Hawkins,  father  of  the  famous  John 
Hawkins,  made  the  first  of  three  voyages  to  Africa  during 
which  he  also  traded  to  Brazil.  Again  in  1553  Hawkins 
sent  an  expedition  to  the  Gold  Coast.  Near  Elmina  the  ad- 
venturers sold  some  of  their  goods  for  gold,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Benin,  where  they  obtained  pepper,  or  **  Guinea' 
graines,''  and  elephants'  teeth.  After  losmg  two-thirds  of 
the  crew  from  sickness  the  expedition  returned  to  England.*^ 
In  the  following  year  another  expedition  under  Hawkins' 
direction  secured  several  slaves  in  addition  to  a  large 
amount  of  gold  and  other  products.^  Also,  in  the  years 
1555,  1556,  1557,  William  Towrson  made  three  voyages  to 
the  Guinea  coast,  in  which  his  ships  were  harassed  by  the 
Portuguese,  who  attempted  to  prevent  them  from  trading. 
English  cloth  and  iron  wares  were  in  such  demand,  how- 
ever, that  notwithstanding  this  opposition  a  lucrative  trade 
was  obtained.^ 

Beginning  with  1561  Queen  Elizabeth  lent  her  influence 
and  assistance  to  a  series  of  voyages  to  the  African  coast. 
Not  only  did  she  permit  the  use  of  four  royal  vessels  for  the 
first  expedition  but  she  spent  five  hundred  pounds  in  provi- 
sioning them  for  the  voyage.  The  value  of  the  goods  sent  to 
Africa  in  these  vessels  was  five  thousand  pounds.  Accord- 
ing to  the  arrangement  Queen  Elizabeth  received  one  thou- 
sand pounds,  which  sum  was  one-third  of  the  profits. ^^    In 

6  Hakluyt,  Eiehard,  The  Principal  Navigations,  Voyages,  Traffiques,  4" 
Discourses  of  the  English  Nation,  VI,  123,  124. 

■rlhid.,  VI,  145^162. 

sllid.,  VI,  154-177. 

9ll)id.,  VI,  177-252. 

10  Queen  Elizabeth 's  profit  may  have  been  only  five  hundred  pounds,  as  it 
seems  likely  that  the  five  hundred  pounds  which  she  spent  in  provisioning  the 
ships  should  be  subtracted  from  the  one  thousand  pounds  which  she  received. 
Scott,  W.  E.,  The  Constitution  and  Finance  of  English,  Scottish  and  Irish  Joint 
Stocic  Companies  to  1720,  II,  6. 


4  The  Company  of  Royal.  Adventukeeis 

the  year  1563  similar  arrangements  were  made  with  the 
queen  for  another  voyage  to  the  Gold  Coast,  during  which 
there  was  considerable  trouble  with  the  Portuguese.  Notwith- 
standing this  opposition  the  ships  succeeded  in  returning  to 
England  with  a  quantity  of  elephants'  teeth  and  Gruinea 
grains. ^^  In  1564,  an  expedition  composed  of  three  ships, 
one  of  which  belonged  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  was  particularly 
unfortunate.  One  of  these  ships  was  blown  up,  while  the 
other  two  were  attacked  by  the  Portuguese  and  probably 
had  to  return  without  obtaining  any  African  products.^ ^ 

In  these  voyages  to  Guinea  the  English  trade  had  been 
in  exchange  for  gold,  elephants'  teeth  and  pepper.  Trading 
for  slaves  had  scarcely  occurred  to  these  early  adventurers. 
Nevertheless,  as  early  as  1562,  John  Hawkins  sailed  for 
Sierra  Leone  with  three  vessels,  and  there  captured  three 
hundred  Negroes  whom  he  sold  to  the  Spaniards  in  His- 
paniola.^^  The  success  of  this  voyage  was  so  great  that  in 
1564  there  was  fitted  out  a  second  slave  raiding  expedition 
in  which  one  of  the  queen's  ships,  the  Jesus,  was  employed. 
As  before,  Hawkins  sold  his  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  this 
time  with  some  difficulty,  because  the  Spanish  officials,  who 
were  forbidden  to  have  any  trade  with  foreigners,  regarded 
the  Englishmen  as  pirates.^* 

Again,  in  1567,  Hawkins  was  on  his  way  to  Guinea.  By 
playing  off  one  set  of  natives  against  another  he  procured 
about  450  slaves  and  once  more  set  out  for  the  Spanish 
Indies.  Although  at  first  the  voyage  promised  to  be  suc- 
cessful, he  was  later  set  upon  by  a  number  of  Spanish  ships 
and  barely  escaped  with  his  life  and  one  badly  wrecked 
vessel.^^ 

Hawkins'  voyages  to  Africa  are  worthy  of  note  because 
he  was  the  first  Englishman  to  engage  in  the  slave  trade. 
To  be  sure,  his  piratical  seizure  of  free  Negroes  broke  all 

11  Hayluyt,  Principal  Navigations,  VI,  25S-261. 

12  Ihid.,  VI,  262. 
islhid.,  X,  7,  8. 
i*Ibid.,  X,  9-63. 
15  Hid.,  X,  64-74. 


Eaely  Teade  to  West  Afkica  5 

the  rules  of  honorable  dealing  long  recognized  on  the  Afri- 
can coast.  As  a  result  of  his  actions  the  natives  held  all 
Englishmen  in  great  distrust  for  a  number  of  years.^^  The 
unregulated  method  of  carrying  on  the  African  trade,  pur- 
sued up  to  this  time,  ceased  to  a  certain  extent  when  Queen 
Elizabeth  granted  the  first  patent  of  monopoly  to  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  May  3,  1588. 

The  charter  of  1588  gave  to  certain  merchants  of  Exeter, 
London  and  other  places  in  England  for  ten  years  an  exclu- 
sive trade  to  that  portion  of  West  Africa  lying  between  the 
Senegal  and  Gambia  rivers.  The  great  slave  and  gold  pro- 
ducing country  of  the  Gold  Coast  remained  open  to  all 
traders.  It  was  therefore  evident  that,  instead  of  con- 
tinuing the  slave  raiding  projects  of  Hawkins,  the  company 
intended  to  resume  the  exchange  of  English  manufactures 
for  African  products.  According  to  its  charter  the  com- 
pany was  not  required  to  pay  duties  in  England  either  on 
imports  or  exports.^"^  Although  nothing  is  known  of  the 
success  of  this  company,  the  patent  was  regarded  as  of  suf- 
ficient importance  for  the  earl  of  Nottingham  and  others  to 
obtain  a  continuation  of  the  monopoly. ^^ 

Since  the  charter  of  these  Senegal  adventurers  did  not 
prevent  anyone  from  resorting  to  the  Gold  Coast  and  the 
regions  to  the  east  thereof,  two  voyages  were  made  to 
Benin,  one  in  1588  and  another  in  1590.^^  In  1592  certain 
English  merchants  received  a  patent  from  the  queen  au- 
thorizing them  to  trade  to  certain  specified  portions  of 
Africa.^^  The  trade  to  Africa  continued  in  this  desultory 
fashion  until  1618.  At  that  time  a  patent  comprising  the 
whole  explored  western  coast  of  Africa  south  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Barbary  Company  was  granted  to  some  thirty 
persons,  among  whom  the  most  important  was  Sir  William 

i«  For  example,  the  expedition  of  George  Fenner  to  Africa  in  1566.  He 
had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  the  natives.  Hakluyt,  Principal  Navigations, 
VI,  266-284. 

17  Hakluyt,  Principal  Navigations,  VI,  443-i50,  patent  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
May  3,  1588. 

18  Scott,  Joint  Stock  Companies,  II,  10. 

19  Hakluyt,  Principal  Navigations,  VI,  45CMr58,  461-467. 
zolMd.,  VII,  102. 


6  The  Company  of  Eoyal.  Adventueers 

St.  John,  who  was  said  to  have  built  the  first  English  fort 
in  Af  rica.^^  In  the  early  years  their  trade,  which  consisted 
in  the  exchange  of  English  for  African  products,  was  espe- 
cially unfortunate.  Vessels  were  either  lost  or  brought 
back  small  returns.  After  1621  it  was  difficult  to  procure 
fresh  additions  of  capital.  To  add  to  this  trying  situation, 
the  House  of  Commons  attacked  the  company's  monopoly 
and,  later,  voted  it  to  be  a  grievance.  Thereafter,  although 
the  company  sometimes  issued  licenses  for  the  African 
trade,  the  interlopers,  who  resorted  to  Africa  quite  freely, 
usually  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  obtain  them.^^ 

The  moving  spirit  of  the  next  company,  which  received 
a  patent  in  1631,  was  Sir  Nicholas  Crispe,  who  had  been  a 
successful  interloper  during  the  life  of  the  previous  com- 
pany. In  1624  he  had  built  the  first  permanent  English 
settlement  at  Kormentine.  Although  not  incorporated,  this 
company  enjoyed  for  thirty-one  years  a  monopoly  of  trade 
to  all  the  region  lying  between  Cape  Blanco  and  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  Just  previous  to  the  Civil  War  Charles  I 
confirmed  its  charter  for  twenty  years.  The  company's 
monopoly  was  looked  on  with  disfavor  by  the  leaders  of  the 
Puritan  party,  however,  and  in  1649  the  company  was  sum- 
moned before  the  Council  of  State,  where  it  was  accused  of 
having  procured  its  charter  by  undue  influence.  Later,  the 
company's  case  was  considered  by  the  committee  of  trade, 
and  finally,  on  April  9,  1651,  the  Council  of  State  recom- 
mended that  the  company's  monopoly  of  that  part  of  West 
Africa  extending  from  a  point  twenty  miles  north  of  Kor- 
mentine to  within  twenty  miles  of  the  Sierra  Leone  Eiver 
be  continued  for  fourteen  years.^^ 

This  company  also  suffered  numerous  misfortunes  on 
the  African  coast.  A  factory  which  the  English  had  set  up 
at  Cape  Corse  in  April,  1650,  was  seized  the  following  year 
by  some  Swedes  who  for  several  years  thereafter  made  it 

21  Seott,  Joint  Stock  Companies,  II,  11. 

22  Jfeid.,  II,  12,  13. 
z^Ilid.,  II,  14-16. 


Eaely  Trade  to  West  Afeica  7 

tlie  seat  of  their  trade  in  Guinea-^*  Notwithstanding  this 
fact  the  Swedes  permitted  the  English  to  retain  a  lodge  at 
Cape  Corse  with  which  the  agents  at  Kormentine  some- 
times traded.2^  Even  after  the  place  was  seized  by  Hen- 
drik  Carloff,  a  Danish  adventurer,  in  1658,  the  English 
seem  to  have  been  allowed  to  remain  at  Cape  Corse.  By 
this  time,  however,  the  English  African  Company  had  be- 
come unable  to  support  its  factories  on  the  coast  of  Guinea. 
Therefore  they  were  turned  over  to  the  English  East  India 
Company,  and  became  occasional  stopping  places  for  its 
vessels  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  East  Indies. 

24  S.  P.  (State  Papers),  Holland,  178,  f.  123,  undated  paper  concerning 
the  title  of  the  English  to  Cape  Corse;  A.  C.  E.  (Records  of  the  African  Com- 
panies), 169:  69,  deposition  of  Thomas  Crispe,  February  5,  1685/6;  Dammaert, 
Journal  (Journal  gehouden  bij  Louijs  Dammaert  ungewaren  met  't  schip 
Prins  Willem),  September  19,  1652  (N.  S.). 

^5  Bemonstrantie  aen  de  Ho.  Mo.  Heeren  de  Staten  Generael  der  Ver- 
eenighde  Nederlanden,  p.  18 ;  Dammaert,  Journal,  September  19,  1652,  May  18, 
1653,  December  7,  19,  1655,  April  22  1656  (N.  S.). 


•».  i. 


%- 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England 

On  account  of  the  collapse  of  the  king's  cause  at  the 
death  of  Charles  I,  Prince  Rupert,  with  his  small  fleet  of 
royal  vessels,  was  driven  about  from  one  part  of  the  world 
to  another.  In  1652  he  sought  refuge  in  the  Gambia  River,^ 
where  he  listened  to  stories  told  by  natives  of  rich  gold 
mines  in  that  region.  For  a  number  of  years  the  Negroes 
had  brought  gold  from  the  inland  of  Africa  to  the  Dutch  on 
the  Gold  Coast.  There  seemed  every  reason  to  believe  that 
the  source  of  this  gold  supply  was  none  other  than  that  de- 
scribed by  the  natives  of  the  Gambia  River,  and  that  it 
might  be  discovered  somewhere  in  that  region.  Prince 
Rupert  was  so  much  impressed  with  the  possibility  of  find- 
ing these  mines  that  his  voyage  to  Guinea  was  still  vivid  in 
his  memory  when  Charles  II  assumed  the  throne  in  1660. 
In  the  duke  of  York  and  other  royal  courtiers  he  found  a 
group  of  willing  listeners  who  determined  to  form  a  com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  sending  an  expedition  to  the  Gam- 
bia to  dig  for  gold.  As  early  as  October  3,  1660,  the  plans 
were  formulated.  Each  member  was  required  to  invest  at 
least  £250  in  the  undertaking.^  On  December  18,  1660,  the 
king,  who  was  pleased  with  the  adventurers  for  having 
'* undertaken  so  hopeful  an  enterprise,"  granted  them  a 
charter^  under  the  name  of  ^^  The  Company  of  the  Royal  Ad- 
venturers into  Africa.''* 

1  At  one  time  Prince  Eupert  had  been  governor  of  the  African  company 
founded  in  1631.  Jenkinson,  Hilary,  *'The  Records  of  the  English  African 
Companies."  Traivsactions  of  the  BoyaZ  Historical  Society,  Third  Series, 
VI,  195. 

2  Pepys,  Diary  (The  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  edited  by  Henry  B.  Wheat- 
ley),  I,  253. 

3  That  some  expense  attached  to  the  procuring  of  such  charters  appears 
from  an  item  of  £133.10s.3d.  which  the  company  incurred  for  this  charter. 

8 


The  Eoyal  Adventurebs  in  England  9 

By  this  charter  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  received  the 
land  and  the  adjacent  islands  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
from  Cape  Blanco  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  for  a  period 
of  one  thousand  years  beginning  with  *  *  the  making  of  these 
our  Letters  Patents  if  the  .  .  .  grant  (made  to  Crispe's 
company  in  1631)  be  void  and  determined.''^  If,  however, 
the  former  charter  was  still  regarded  as  in  force,  the  grant 
to  the  Royal  Adventurers  was  to  be  effective  upon  the  sur- 
render or  the  expiration  of  the  former  company's  priv- 
ileges.^ A  committee  of  six  men,  the  earl  of  Pembroke, 
Lord  Craven,  Sir  George  Carteret,  William  Coventry,  Sir 
Ellis  Leighton  and  Cornelius  Vermuyden,  was  named  to 
have  charge  of  the  company's  affairs.  No  mention  was 
made  of  the  office  of  governor  or  of  any  court  of  directors. 
Apparently  it  was  thought  that  the  committee  of  six  could 
direct  all  of  the  company's  affairs.  In  Africa,  this  com- 
mittee was  empowered  to  appoint  the  necessary  agents  and 
officials  and  to  raise  and  maintain  whatever  soldiers  were 
necessary  to  execute  martial  law.  The  company  had  the 
right  to  admit  new  members  if  it  desired.  The  king  himself 
reserved  the  privilege  of  becoming  an  adventurer  at  any 
time  and  to  invest  an  amount  of  money  not  exceeding  one- 
sixteenth  of  the  company's  stock. 

Furthermore,  it  was  provided  that  the  king  *  ^  shall  have, 
take  and  receive  two  third  parts  of  all  the  gold  mines  which 
shall  be  seized,  possessed  and  wrought  in  the  parts  and  places 
aforesaid,  we  .  .  .  paying  and  bearing  two  third  parts  of 
all  the  charges  incident  to  the  working  and  transporting  of 
the  said  gold. ' '  The  company  was  to  have  the  other  third 
and  bear  the  remainder  of  the  expense.  That  this  provision 
was  not  a  matter  of  mere  form,  as  in  so  many  of  the  royal 

A.  C.  R.,  1221,  April  12,  1661.  Wherever  possible  the  volume  and  page  of  the 
company 's  books  will  be  given,  but  since  they  have  not  all  been  paged  the  only 
other  method  of  reference  is  by  dates. 

4Carr,  Cecil  T.,  ''Select  Charters  of  Trading  Companies,  1530-1707,'* 
Publications  of  the  Selden  Society,  XXVIII,  172-177. 

6  According  to  the  charter  of  1660  the  former  patent  had  been  granted 
June  25,  1631.  It  would  therefore  expire  June  25,  1662,  if  it  was  not  sur- 
rendered before  that  time. 


10  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

charters,  is  evident  from  the  stimulus  which  had  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  company.  Indeed  in  one  part  of  the  char- 
ter the  purpose  of  the  company  is  presented  as  *Hhe  setting 
forward  and  furthering  of  the  trade  intended  (redwood, 
hides,  elephants'  teeth)  in  the  parts  aforesaid  and  the  en- 
couragement of  the  undertakers  in  discovering  the  golden 
mines  and  setting  of  plantations  there.''  The  trade  in 
slaves  was  not  mentioned  in  the  charter. 

Even  before  they  had  obtained  this  charter  the  organ- 
izers of  the  new  company  induced  the  king  to  lend  them  five 
of  his  Majesty's  ships.  These  vessels,  the  ^* Henrietta," 
** Sophia,"  ^* Amity,"  ** Griffin"  and  ^^Kingsale,"  were 
loaded  with  goods,  tools  and  chemicals  necessary  for  the 
working  of  the  projected  gold  mines.  Captain  Robert 
Holmes,  who  had  been  with  Prince  Rupert  in  1652,  was 
given  charge  of  the  expedition ;  but  the  goods  and  necessi- 
ties were  consigned  to  William  Usticke  and  two  other  fac- 
tors of  the  company.®  In  December,  1660,  the  five  vessels 
set  out  on  their  voyage  to  the  Gambia  River,  where  they 
arrived  in  the  following  March.  There  Holmes  seized  the 
island  of  St.  Andre,  then  occupied  by  a  feeble  number  of 
the  subjects  of  the  duke  of  Courland.  Since  the  latter  place 
was  protected  by  a  small  fort  the  English  began  prepara- 
tions to  make  it  the  seat  of  their  operations  in  that  region. 
Not  long  after  they  arrived,  however,  a  fire  destroyed  the 
fortification  and  a  large  part  of  the  goods  which  had  been 
brought  from  England.  Under  these  circumstances  they 
chose  to  abandon  that  island,  and  to  settle  on  two  others 
which  were  better  situated  for  defense  and  trade.  These 
they  named  Charles  Island  and  James  Island  in  honor  of 

«A.  C.  E.,  309,  1221.  The  records  of  the  first  few  ventures  are  to  be 
found  in  these  two  volumes  of  the  company 's  books.  Number  309  is  the  origi- 
nal book,  the  other  being  practically  a  copy  of  it.  In  some  cases,  however, 
the  latter  is  more  complete.  These  two  books  have  been  practically  overlooked 
in  the  cataloging  of  the  company's  records,  one  of  them  being  labelled,  **Ship't 
Journal.  *'  They  contain  the  only  information  we  have  of  the  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  first  company  as  kept  by  Thomas  Holder,  treasurer  of  the  com- 
pany. The  greater  part  of  the  two  books  is  taken  up  with  lists  and  costs  of 
various  goods  which  were  sent  to  Africa. 


The  Eoyal  Adventurers  in  England  11 

their  royal  patrons.  The  latter  was  by  far  the  more  advan- 
tageously situated,  and  became  the  main  stronghold  of  the 
English  in  the  northern  part  of  Africa  during  all  the  history 
of  the  African  companies.  Holmes  probably  remained  on 
the  Gambia  until  about  the  first  of  May,  when  he  departed 
with  one  or  two  of  the  ships  for  England.  In  July  as  much 
of  a  cargo  as  possible  was  loaded  on  the  *^ Amity,''  which 
finally  arrived  in  England,  after  its  crew  had  been  depleted 
by  disease."^ 

Information  regarding  the  success  of  the  mining  project 
of  this  expedition  is  almost  totally  lacking,  but  it  seems 
certain  that  nothing  was  done  to  discover  the  hoped-for 
gold  mines.  The  climate  affected  the  men  so  adversely 
that  it  is  altogether  unlikely  that  they  even  attempted  to 
look  for  the  mines.  The  small  cargo  carried  back  by  the 
various  ships,  most  of  which  seems  to  have  been  on  the 
*^ Amity,''  probably  represents  the  only  tangible  results  of 
the  expedition.  These  goods,  consisting  of  elephants'  teeth, 
wax  and  hides,  sold  for  £l,567.8s.,^  whereas  the  outlay  for 
the  expedition  was  probably  between  £4,000  and  £4,500.^ 

This  sum  does  not  include  £2,640.8s.8d.  expense  which 
was  incurred  to  send  another  of  the  king's  ships,  the 
'^ Blackamoor,"  to  the  Gold  Coast,  in  June,  1661.^0  The 
'* Blackamoor"  was  followed  in  April,  1662,  by  the  *' Swal- 
low," which,  together  with  its  cargo,  cost  the  Eoyal  Adven- 
turers £l,101.2s.ld.i^  Later  in  the  year  the  three  ships, 
** Charles,"  '*  James"  and  **Mary,"  were  sent  to  the  Gold 
Coast  at  an  expense  of  about  £5,000. ^^    gy  September,  1662, 

7  Admiralty  Papers,  Navy  Board,  Iii-L^tters,  6,  loose  leaf  order  of  the 
factors  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  on  the  Gambia  Eiver,  July  19,  1661.  With 
this  order  there  is  a  certificate  dated  January  3,  1661/2,  to  the  effect  that 
thirty-eight  of  the  crew  of  the  ** Amity"  had  died  on  the  way  to  Guinea  and 
during  the  time  they  were  on  the  Gambia  Kiver. 

8  A.  C.  E.,  1221,  October  20,  1662. 

0  It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  exact  amount  which  was  invested  in 
goods,  etc. 

10  A.  C.  R.,  1221,  June  20,  1661. 

11  Ibid.,  April  30,  1662. 
i^IUd.,  309,  September  26,  1662 


12  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventukers 

£17,400  had  been  subscribed  by  various  persons  to  obtain 
the  cargoes  for  the  ships  which  had  been  dispatched  to  the 
coast  of  Guinea.  Of  this  amount  £800  had  been  promised 
by  the  king ;  £3,600  by  the  duke  of  York ;  £400  by  the  queen 
Mother;  £400  by  the  duchess  of  Orleans;  £800  by  Prince 
Rupert;  and  £800  by  the  duke  of  Buckingham.  Of  the 
£17,400  subscribed  all  but  about  £1,000  had  been  paid  by 
October  20,  1662.  From  this  investment  the  company  had 
received  no  returns  except  the  £l,567.8s.  from  the  first  ex- 
pedition, while  the  three  last  vessels,  the  ^*  Charles, '^ 
^^Jame^'*  and  *^Mary''  had  not  yet  arrived  at  the  Gold 
Coast  on  their  ill-fated  voyage. ^^ 

Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no  uniformity  about  the 
amounts  invested,  and  no  definite  times  at  which  the  several 
amounts  subscribed  were  due.  It  was  assumed  that  money 
would  be  forthcoming  from  the  members  whenever  it  was 
needed  to  dispatch  ships  to  the  coast.  About  the  middle  of 
September,  1662,  it  was  decided  to  pursue  a  more  business- 
like policy.  A  list  of  subscribers  for  shares  at  four  hun- 
dred pounds  each  was  opened,  and  by  the  15th  of  January, 
1663,  the  amount  of  this  second  subscription  was  £17,000.^* 
The  stimulus  for  obtaining  this  added  subscription  was  the 
fact  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  company  was  agitating  for 

a  new  charter,  which  was  granted  by  the  king,  January  10, 
1663.15 

Experience  had  shown  that  the  previous  charter  was  in- 
adequate, not  only  respecting  the  means  of  raising  funds  to 

13  A.  C.  K.,  309,  September  26,  October  20,  1662.  Only  £560  of  the  king's 
subscription  of  £800  was  paid,  according  to  the  list  found  under  the  first  of 
the  above  dates.  There  may  be  a  slight  error,  as  warrants  were  issued  for  th.e 
payment  of  £580  at  various  times  in  1661  and  1662.  C.  S.  P.,  Treas.  Bks. 
(Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Treasury  Books),  1660-1667,  pp.  312,  314,  383. 
This  does  not  include  a  warrant  for  £300,  which  was  probably  used  in  the 
first  expedition  under  Captain  Holmes,  but  which  for  some  reason  is  omitted 
in  the  company's  books.     C.  S.  P.,  Treas.  Bks.,  1660-1667,  p.  107. 

14  A.  C.  E.,  309,  October  20,  1662,  January  15,  1663.  Afterward  £3,200 
was  added  to  this,  making  £20,800  in  all  in  the  second  subscription.  A.  C.  E., 
309,  August  25,  1663. 

15  Carr,  Select  Charters  of  Trading  Companies,  pp.  178-181. 


The  Royal  Adventukers  in  England  13 

carry  on  the  company's  business,  bnt  also  on  account  of  the 
lack  of  any  other  officers  to  direct  its  affairs  than  the  com- 
mittee of  six.    By  general  consent  of  the  patentees  and  of 
those  who  had  later  subscribed  to  the  stock,  it  had  been  de- 
cided to  surrender  the  charter  of  1660  for  one  conferring 
more  extensive  privileges  on  the  corporation.    The  charter 
obtained  January  10,  1663,  answered  these  requirements.^ 
The  name  was  changed  to  ^^The  Company  of  Royal  Adven-1\ 
turers  of  England  Trading  into  Africa.''    The  territory  in-j/ 
eluded  in  the  charter  reached  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  as  in// 
the  previous  patent,  but  the  northern  limit  was  extended 
from  Cape  Blanco  to  Cape  Sallee  on  the  coast  of  Morocco. 

The  new  charter  contained  the  same  provisions  in  re- 
gard to  the  discovery  of  gold  mines  as  the  charter  of  1660. 
By  this  time,  however,  the  adventurers  had  discovered  thati/ 
the  Negro  trade  could  be  made  very  lucrative.    In  this  char- ' 
ter,  therefore,  they  obtained  ^Hhe  whole,  entire  and  onlyf- 
trade  for  the  buying  and  selling  bartering  and  exchanging^  ■ 
of  for  or  with  any  Negroes,  slaves,  goods,  wares  and  mer- 
chandises whatsoever  to  be  vented  or  found  at  or  within  j, 
any  of  the  Cities"  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.    The  char-i  i 
ter  provided  that  there  should  be  no  trading  on  the  African:  \ 
coast  except  by  the  company  in  its  corporate  capacity,  and 
that  any  one  guilty  of  transgressing  these  rules  should  be 
liable  to  forfeiture  of  his  ship  and  goods. ^^ 

The  charter  also  required  the  shareholders  to  elect  a 
governor,  subgovernor,  deputy  governor  and  court  of  as- 
sistants; but  that  the  routine  business  of  the  company 
should  be  conducted  by  a  smaller  committee  corresponding 
to  the  committee  of  six  of  the  previous  company.  The  duke 
of  York  was  elected  governor,  in  which  capacity  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  during  the  company's  entire  existence. 
Thirty-six  men  were  chosen  annually  to  compose  the  court 

16  There  were  also  provisions  similar  to  those  contained  in  the  first  char- 
ter for  the  government  of  the  company's  "plantations"  (factories)  in  Africa. 
The  clause  allowing  the  king  to  subscribe  one-sixteenth  of  the  stock  was  omit- 
ted, but  he  could  become  a  shareholder  at  any  time. 


14  The  Company  of  Royal.  Adventurers 

of  assistants.  There  was  also  an  executive  committee  of 
seven  which  was  responsible  to  the  court  of  assistants.^^ 

While  the  company  was  endeavoring  to  obtain  this  new 
charter  an  unsuspected  difficulty  arose.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  in  1631  Sir  Nicholas  Crispe  and  others  had  re- 
ceived a  patent  to  a  portion  of  the  west  coast  of  Africa  for 
thirty-one  years.  The  first  charter  of  Charles  II  to  the 
Royal  Adventurers  in  December,  1660,  had  been  granted  a 
year  and  a  half  previous  to  the  expiration  of  Crispe 's 
patent.  In  recognition  of  this  fact  the  charter  of  the  Royal 
Adventurers  provided  that  if  the  former  patent  was  not 
void,  the  new  charter  was  not  to  be  effective  until  its  sur- 
render or  expiration.  At  first  Crispe  made  no  complaint 
about  the  transgression  of  his  rights,  probably  because  the 
first  expedition  under  Captain  Holmes  had  gone  to  the 
Gambia  region,  in  which  place  Crispe  had  no  interests. 
When  it  became  apparent  that  the  company  intended  to 
carry  its  activities  further  south,  however,  he  appeared 
before  the  Privy  Council  on  November  22,  1661,  and  asked 
to  have  his  interest  confirmed  in  the  trade  and  settlements 
at  Kormentine  and  in  the  region  of  the  Sierra  Leone  and 
Sherbro  rivers. ^^  On  December  20,  1661,  his  case  was 
heard  before  the  Privy  Council,  at  which  time  the  case  was 
referred  to  the  Lord  High  Treasurer. ^^  The  matter  was 
neglected  and  finally  dropped. 

Crispe  found  it  impossible  to  prevent  the  ships  of  the 
Royal  Company  from  transgressing  the  regions  mentioned 
in  his  charter.  About  the  time  at  which  his  charter  expired 
(June  25,  1662),  he  agreed  to  transfer  all  his  interests  in 
the  fortifications  at  Kormentine  and  elsewhere  to  the  Royal 
Adventurers.  Although  this  agreement  has  not  been  found, 
there  was  apparently  nothing  in  it  which  bound  the  com- 
pany to  remunerate  Crispe  and  his  associates,  because 

17  The  charter  had  provided  that  the  executive  committee  should  be  com- 
posed of  seven  men  if  twenty-four  assistants  were  elected  and  thirteen  if 
thirty-six  were  chosen.     A.  C.  B.,  75:  29,  31,  41,  44,  49,  51,  6»,  72,  93. 

18  p.  C.  E.  (Eegister  of  the  Privy  Council),  Charles  11,  2:  451. 
i»7&uf.,  2:502. 


The  Royal.  Adventurers  in  England  15 

later,  August,  1662,  he  petitioned  the  king  for  compensation 
for  the  forts  and  lodges  which  had  been  transferred  to  the 
Royal  Adventurers.  At  first  the  king  was  favorable  to 
Crispe's  request  in  view  of  the  service  which  he  had  ren- 
dered in  building  up  the  Guinea  trade.^^  Later,  neither  the 
king  nor  the  Royal  Adventurers  seem  to  have  paid  any  at- 
tention to  Crispe's  plea  for  compensation.^^ 

In  later  years  the  report  was  persistently  spread  that 
at  the  time  when  the  agreement  was  made  with  Crispe  the 
Privy  Council  had  ordered  the  Royal  Adventurers  to  pay 
him  £20,000  in  lieu  of  all  his  interests  on  the  coast,  and  that 
the  company  had  ^^  seemed  to  acquiesce ''  in  the  order.^^  It 
does  not  seem  possible  that  this  assertion  can  be  true  in 
view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  and  of  the  absolute  lack  of  men- 
tion of  any  such  thing  in  the  books  of  the  company.  Over  a 
year  later,  August  15,  1664,  Crispe  presented  a  paper  of  an 
unknown  character  to  which  the  court  of  assistants  refused 
to  give  any  notice.^^  It  seems  likely  that  this  paper  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  African  forts,  but  that  it  was  sub- 
mitted in  connection  with  a  controversy  over  some  African 

20Egerton  MSS.,  2538,  f.  109,  C.  C.  to  Secretary  Nicholas,  August  11, 
1662.  Folio  110  contains  a  note  without  date  or  signature  saying  that  the 
matter  was  referred  to  the  Lord  High  Treasurer  and  others. 

21  The  earl  of  Clarendon  declares  in  his  History  of  Charles  II  that,  upon 
the  return  of  the  ships  from  the  first  expedition,  the  company  "compounded" 
with  Sir  Nicholas  Crispe  for  his  '* propriety"  in  the  fort  at  Kormentine.  This 
is  untrue,  since  it  has  just  been  shown  that  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of 
1662  that  he  agreed  to  transfer  his  property  to  the  Koyal  Adventurers  and 
that  it  was  afterward  that  Crispe  endeavored  to  get  the  king's  approval  to 
grant  him  compensation.  Clarendon  may  have  remembered  that  the  king  was 
favorable  to  the  proposition  and  therefore  assumed  that  such  a  contract  had 
been  made.  Hyde,  Edward,  First  Earl  of  Clarendon.  The  History  of  the 
Beign  of  King  Charles  the  Second,  from  the  Restoration  to  the  end  of  the 
year  1667  (edited  by  J.  Shebbeare),  p.  197. 

22  This  charge  was  put  forward  in  a  pamphlet,  probably  published  in 
1709,  called  Sir  John  Crispe's  Case  in  Eelation  to  the  Forts  in  Africa.  In  this 
pamphlet  the  assertion  is  made  that  the  Privy  Council  had  a  full  hearing  of 
the  matter  on  July  29,  1662,  and  ordered  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  to  pay  Crispe 
£20,000  by  an  export  duty  of  2i/^  per  cent,  on  goods  sent  to  Africa.  An 
examination  of  the  Privy  Council  Eegister  shows  no  order  of  that  kind  on  that 
date  or  at  any  subsequent  time. 

23  A.  C.  E.,  75,  August,  15,  16€4. 


16  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventukers 

goods,  which  were  said  to  belong  to  the  members  of  Crispe's 
company.^*  The  entire  lack  of  any  other  evidence  of  trouble 
between  Crispe  and  the  company  leads  one  to  think  that  no 
contract  for  such  compensation  was  ever  made.^^  More- 
over, that  he  was  not  averse  to  the  success  of  the  Royal  Ad- 
venturers is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  himself  subscribed 
£2,000  in  1663  to  the  stock  of  the  company.^^ 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  in  detail  the  number  of 
ships  which  were  fitted  out  for  the  company's  trade  after 
it  received  its  second  charter  in  January,  1663.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  very  active  measures  were  undertaken,  especially 
by  the  duke  of  York,  who  faithfully  attended  the  weekly 
meetings  of  the  court  of  assistants  which  were  held  in  his 
apartments  at  Whitehall.  The  earl  of  Clarendon  voiced 
the  sentiments  of  these  enthusiastic  courtier-merchants 
when  he  said  that,  providing  all  went  well,  the  Company  of 
Royal  Adventurers  would  **be  found  a  Model  equally  to 
advance  the  Trade  of  England  with  that  of  any  other  com- 
pany, even  that  of  the  East-Indies. ''^^ 

If  this  prediction  was  to  be  realized  it  was  necessary  to 
have  a  greater  stock  than  the  first  and  second  subscriptions 
had  provided.  Therefore  a  public  declaration  was  issued 
inviting  any  of  the  king's  subjects  in  England  to  subscribe 
for  shares  of  not  less  than  four  hundred  pounds  each,  one- 
half  of  each  share  to  be  paid  by  December  1,  1663,  and  the 

24  In  January,  1663,  the  Koyal  Adventurers  made  an  agreement  with  sev- 
eral members  of  Crispe 's  company  providing  for  the  transfer  to  England  of 
their  merchandise  and  personal  effects  which  were  still  on  the  coast  of  Africa. 
Whether  this  second  contract  contained  anything  about  compensation  for  the 
forts  it  is  impossible  to  say,  since  this  agreement  also  has  not  been  preserved. 
Admiralty  High  Court,  Examinations  134.  Answers  of  Edward  M.  Mitchell 
and  Ellis  Leighton,  May  10,  20,  1664. 

25  That  Sir  Nicholas  Crispe  felt  the  losses  he  had  incurred  in  Guinea 
appears  from  his  will  of  1666,  in  which  he  directed  the  following  inscription 
to  be  erected  to  his  memory:  " first  discovered  and  setled  the  Trade  of  Gold 
in  Affrica  and  built  there  the  Castle  of  Cormentine,"  and  thus  ''lost  out  of 
purse"  more  than  £100,000.     Crisp,  Frederick  A.,  Family  of  Crispe,  I,  32. 

26  A.  C.  E.,  309,  June  25,  September  4,  1663.  Upon  the  latter  date  it 
appears  that  only  £1300  of  his  subscription  was  paid. 

27  Clarendon,  History  of  the  Eeign  of  Charles  II,  p.  198. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England  17 

other  one-lialf  by  March  1,  following.  The  conditions  of 
subscription  provided  that  seven  years  after  the  first  date, 
a  committee  from  the  adventurers  should  be  chosen  to  make 
a  fair  valuation  of  the  stock  of  the  company.  Each  share- 
holder was  then  to  be  allowed  to  receive  the  value  of  his 
stock  in  money  if  he  so  desired.  Thereafter  this  action  was 
to  be  repeated  every  three  years  with  the  same  privileges 
of  withdrawal  from  the  company.^^  Later,  as  a  means  of 
inducing  those  with  smaller  means  to  subscribe  for  stock, 
the  company  permitted  subscriptions  as  small  as  fifty 
pounds,  providing  they  were  paid  within  eight  days.  When- 
ever any  person  subscribed  more  than  four  hundred  pounds, 
he  was  allowed  to  pay  the  excess  in  eight  quarterly  pay- 
ments beginning  with  the  24th  of  June,  1663.^9  By  offering 
these  inducements  the  third  subscription  amounted  to 
£34,000  divided  among  about  forty-five  shareholders.^^ 

On  the  25th  of  August  of  the  same  year,  however,  it  was 
necessary  to  seek  for  a  fourth  subscription  which  amounted 
to  £29,000,^1  payment  of  which  could  be  made  in  eight  quar- 
terly sums  if  desired.  For  all  those  who  would  pay  the 
third  and  fourth  subscriptions  promptly,  a  discount  of  ten 
per  cent,  was  offered.  By  these  four  subscriptions  the  stock 
of  the  company  appeared  on  September  4,  1663,  to  be  £102,- 
000.32  Of  this  amount  it  is  probable  that  about  £57,425  had 
been  paid,  which  left  unpaid  subscriptions  amounting  to 
£44,775.33    In  addition  to  the  money  obtained  by  the  sale  of 

28  The  Several  Declarations  of  the  Company  of  Boyal  Adventurers  of  Eng- 
land trading  into  Africa,  January  12,  1662  (O.  S.). 

29  IMd. 

so  A.  C.  E.,  309,  June  25,  August  25,  1663. 

silhid.,  309,  August  25,  1663. 

82  IMd.,  309,  the  balance  of  the  company 's  books  on  September  4,  1663. 

33  These  figures  are  arrived  at  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  various 
sums  paid  to  Thomas  Holder,  the  treasurer.  As  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
be  sure  that  the  payments  v^ere  made  for  stock,  too  much  dependence  cannot 
be  put  in  the  figures,  especially  when  the  sum  arrived  at  by  adding  the  items 
which  appear  to  be  owing  the  company  for  stock  in  the  balance  of  September 
4,  1663,  amount  to  £52,000.  This  is  of  course  several  thousand  pounds  more 
than  the  sum  arrived  at  by  the  former  computation,  but  here  again  it  is  not 
possible  to  estimate  exactly  the  money  owing  the  company  for  stock  and  for 
other  things. 


18  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

shares  the  company  had  borrowed  about  £21,000.    With  the 

money  obtained   from   these  two   sources   approximately 

twenty-five  ships  were  sent  to  the  coast  of  Africa  from  De- 

j.cember,  1662,  to  September,  1663.^*    From  these  voyages 

\)there  were  very  unsatisfactory  returns,  and  the  company 

'  'again  found  itself  in  a  critical  financial  condition. 

This  unfortunate  situation  was  largely  the  result  of  op- 
position, which  its  ships  and  factors  had  encountered  from 
the  Dutch  West  India  Company  on  the  coast  of  Guinea. 
For  a  long  time  this  opposition  bade  fair  to  prevent  the 
company  from  obtaining  a  share  in  the  African  trade.  In 
view  of  this  situation  the  king  dispatched  Sir  Robert  Holmes 
upon  a  second  expedition  to  Africa  in  1663  with  orders  to 
protect  the  company's  rights.  As  a  further  means  of  en- 
couragement Charles  II  ordered  all  gold  imported  from 
Africa  by  the  Royal  Company  to  be  coined  with  an  elephant 
on  one  side,  as  a  mark  of  distinction  from  the  coins  then 
prevalent  in  England.^^  These  coins  were  called  ^  *  Guineas' ' ; 
they  served  to  increase  the  reputation  and  prestige  of  the 
company.  Moreover,  the  king  with  many  of  his  courtiers 
made  important  additions  to  their  stock  in  the  third  and 
fourth  subscriptions.^^ 

From  September  4,  1663,  to  the  following  March  there 

34  This  number  is  arrived  at  by  a  careful  perusal  of  the  first  book  kept 
by  the  company,  number  309.  Sometime  in  1664  the  company  submitted  a 
petition  to  the  king  in  which  it  speaks  of  having  sent  over  forty  ships  to  the 
coast  during  the  previous  year  and  of  supplying  them  with  cargoes  amounting 
to  more  than  £160,000.  C.  O.  (Colonial  Office)  1:  17,  f.  255,  petition  of  the 
Eoyal  Adventurers  to  (the  king,  1664). 

35  C.  S.  P.,  Col.  (Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial,  America  and  West 
Indies),  1661-1 G68,  p.  175,  warrant  to  officers  of  the  king's  mint,  December 
24,  1663.  Another  evidence  of  special  favor  was  a  grant  made  by  the  king  in 
1664  giving  the  Eoyal  Company  the  sole  privilege  of  holding  lotteries  in  the 
king's  dominions  for  three  years.  The  company  does  not  seem  to  have  used 
it.  C.  S.  P.,  Dom.  (Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Domestic),  1666-1667,  pp.  531, 
532,  Blanquefort  and  Hamilton  to  the  king,  February  25,  1667. 

36  In  the  third  subscription  the  king 's  share  was  £5,200 ;  in  the  fourth, 
£2,000.  A.  C.  E.,  309,  June  25,  August  25,  1663.  The  king's  subscription 
with  that  of  the  queen  for  £400  seem  never  to  have  been  paid,  although  a 
warrant  was  issued  to  the  Lord  High  Treasurer,  June  27,  1663,  to  pay  the 
amount  from  the  customs  receipts. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England  19 

are  no  records  of  the  company,  but  a  petition  of  the  adven- 
turers to  the  king  in  March,  1664,^^  shows  that  notwithstand- 
ing its  financial  difficulties  the  company  had  during  the 
previous  year  sent  to  Africa  forty  ships  and  goods  to  the 
value  of  £160,000.2^  To  follow  the  company's  financial  his- 
tory from  this  time  on  is  a  difficult  task  because  of  inade- 
quate sources.  In  the  balance  sheet  of  September  4,  1663, 
the  company's  stock  was  entered  as  £102,000  and  its  debts 
as  about  £21,000.  When  the  news  of  Holmes'  great  success 
on  the  Gold  Coast  began  to  arrive  in  England,  the  company 
increased  its  preparations  to  open  an  extensive  African 
trade.  Therefore  on  May  10,  1664,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
collect  the  unpaid  stock  subscriptions,  and  an  invitation 
was  extended  to  all  members  to  lend  one  hundred  pounds 
to  the  company  for  each  share  of  four  hundred  pounds 
which  they  held.  Notwithstanding  the  bright  prospects 
which  the  company  had  at  this  time,  its  strenuous  attempt 
to  raise  the  loan  produced  only  £15,650.^^ 

In  September,  1664,  an  attempt  was  made  to  increase 
the  stock  of  the  company  by  £30,000.    Although  the  duke  of 
York  and  many  others  added  to  their  shares  on  this  occa-  . 
sion,^^  only  £18,200  was  subscribed.^^    By  this  addition  the  // 
stock  of  the  Royal  Adventurers  amounted  to  £120,200,  at/ 
about  which  sum  it  remained  during  the  remainder  of  the 
company's  history.^^ 

37  Upon  this  date,  book  number  309  was  balanced  and  the  items  carried 
to  another  volume,  which  has  been  lost.  In  March,  1664,  the  resolutions  of 
the  general  court  and  the  court  of  assistants  begin  in  number  75  of  the  com- 
pany's books.  While  it  is  fortunate  that  these  resolutions  for  the  remaining 
history  of  this  company  have  been  preserved,  they  do  not  furnish  adequate  in- 
formation regarding  the  company's  financial  condition  at  various  times. 

38  C.  O.  1:  17,  f.  255,  petition  of  the  Boyal  Adventurers  to  (the  king, 
March,  1664). 

39  A.  C.  E.,  75 :  7,  8,  orders  of  the  general  court,  May  10,  20,  1664. 

*o  C.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  1664-1665,  p.  7,  Eobert  Lye  to  Williamson,  September 
13,  1664. 

«A.  C.  E.,  75:21,  22. 

*2  The  total  of  the  stock  is  shown  by  adding  the  five  subscriptions: 

October,  1660,  to  September,  1662,  first  subscription £  17,400 

October,  1662,  to  January,  1663,  second  subscription 20,800 


c 


20  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventueers 

Although  the  company  had  not  obtained  as  much  money 
as  had  been  hoped  for  in  the  last  subscription,  it  anticipated 
great  success  in  its  trade,  until  vague  rumors  began  to  cir- 
culate that  Admiral  DeRuyter  had  been  sent  to  Africa  to 
undo  the  conquest  made  by  Captain  Holmes.  In  the  last 
part  of  December,  1664,  these  rumors  were  confirmed.  In 
a  petition  to  the  king  of  January  2,  1665,^^  the  company  de- 
clared that  its  trade  had  already  increased  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  over  one  hundred  ships  were  employed,  and  that  a 
yearly  return  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  thousand  pounds 
might  reasonably  be  expected.^* 

On  account  of  the  injuries  inflicted  by  DeRuyter  on  the 
African  coast  much  of  the  anticipated  loss  of  goods  and 
vessels  was  realized.  In  all,  the  company  lost  the  cargoes  of 
eight  ships;  of  the  forts  only  Cape  Corse  remained.  Under 
these  ruinous  circumstances  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to 
dispatch  at  once  the  goods  which  had  been  accumulated  at 
Portsmouth.^^     Accordingly  the  company ^s  vessels  were 

June,  1663,  to  August,  1663,  third  subscription 34,600 

August,  1663,  fourtli  subscription   29,200 

September,  1664,  fifth  subscription  18,200 

Total     .£120^^ 

43  S.  P.,  Dom.  (State  Papers,  Domestic),  Charles  II,  110,  f.  18;  C.  0. 
1:  19,  ff.  7,  8. 

44  The  financial  status  of  the  company  at  this  time  was  as  follows: 
Assets: 

£        8  d 

Ships  and  factories  in  Africa    125,962.6.2. 

Debts  owing  to  the  company  in  the  colonies 49,895.0.0 

Goods,  ammunition,  etc.,  at  Portsmouth   48,000.0.0 

Total .223,857.6.3 

Stock  of  the  company: 

Amount  subscribed    120,200.0.0 

Amount  paid   (about)    103,000.0.0 

Amount  unpaid   (about)    17,200.0.0 

Debts,  owing  on  bonds,  etc.   (about)    100,000.0.0 

Losses : 

From  DeEuyter  at  Cape  Verde  50,000.0.0 

Anticipated  from  DeEuyter  at  other  places   125,912.6.2 

Total .175,912.6.2 

46  A.  C.  E.,  75 :  37,  John  Berkley  and  others  to ,  November  4,  16^5. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England  21 

unloaded  and  several  of  them  were  taken  into  the  king's 
service.^^  The  duke  of  York  used  what  little  money  was  on 
hand  to  apply  on  the  company's  debt  in  order  that  the  com- 
pany's expenses  for  interest  might  be  reduced.^"^  Because 
of  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  and  the  fact  that  the  company  had 
no  money,  it  could  do  nothing  but  send  an  occasional  ship 
to  Africa  loaded  with  some  of  the  goods  left  at  Portsmouth. 
From  this  time  on  the  company's  trading  activity  was  con-  L 
fined  to  such  scattered  voyages.^^ 

On  January  11,  1666,*^  the  court  of  assistants  discussed 
the  proposition  of  granting  trading  licenses  to  private  in- 
dividuals.   While  no  action  seems  to  have  been  taken  at  that '  / 
time,  it  ultimately  became  the  practise  of  the  company  to/ 
grant  such  a  freedom  of  trade.    On  April  9,  1667,  a  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  empowering  the  committee  of  seven  to 
issue  trading  licenses  in  return  for  a  payment  of  three  ■ 
pounds  per  ton.^^     These  licenses  were  obtained  by  those 
who  desired  to  carry  on  trade  in  their  own  ships,  and  also 
by  officers  of  the  company's  ships  who  wished  to  engage  in 
private  adventures.    During  the  course  of  the  war  one  hears 
of  many  such  grants  to  various  individuals,  among  whom 
was  Prince  Rupert.^ ^ 

The  practise  of  issuing  licenses  was  interrupted  for  a 
short  time  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  by  a  1 
feeble  attempt  to  revive  the  company's  activities.    An  effort 
was  made  to  collect  arrears  on  the  subscriptions,^^  and  on 

*6  S.  p.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  186:  1. 

•*7  A.  C.  E.,  75:  37,  Berkley  and  others  to  ,  November  4,  1665. 

*8  On  April  6,  1666,  the  king,  in  response  to  a  petition  from  the  Eoyal  Ad- 
venturers, granted  to  the  company  a  ship  called  the  "Golden  Lyon'*  which 
had  been  captured  from  the  Dutch  by  Sir  Robert  Holmes  in  1664.  C.  S.  P., 
Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  370,  the  king  to  duke  of  York,  March  28,  1666. 

49  A.  C.  E.,  75:40. 

so  Hid.,  75:52. 

'i'^  Ibid.,  75:  57.  A  part  of  the  debts  had  been  incurred  on  the  common 
seal  of  the  company  and  part  on  the  personal  security  of  the  committee  of 
seven. 

52  A.  C.  E.,  75 :  56,  58.  An  attempt  was  made  to  induce  the  king  to  pay  his 
subscription.  On  the  other  hand,  the  company  owed  the  king  a  considerable 
sum  for  the  ships  which  it  had  used  from  time  to  time.  S.  P.,  Dam.,  Charles 
n,  199:14. 


22  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

August  21,  1667,  the  general  court  ordered  that  an  addi- 
tional subscription  should  be  opened,  and  that  no  more 
trading  licenses  should  be  granted.^^  The  only  result  of 
this  effort  was  that  the  duke  of  York  and  several  others 
accepted  stock  of  the  company  in  lieu  of  the  bonds  which 
they  held.^^  In  view  of  this  fact  it  was  decided,  January 
20,  1668,  to  resume  the  policy  of  granting  licenses.^^ 

In  comparison  with  the  trade  conducted  by  the  private 
adventurers  that  of  the  company  became  quite  insignificant. 
Since  the  company  had  much  difficulty  in  supporting  its 
agents  on  the  African  coast  it  ordered,  August  28,  1668, 
that  in  the  future  those  who  received  licenses  should  agree 
to  carry  one-tenth  of  their  cargo  for  the  company's  ac- 
count.^^  It  was  difficult  for  the  company  to  raise  the  small 
sum  of  money  necessary  to  buy  this  quota  of  goods.  No  one 
was  willing  to  invest  money  in  the  stock  of  a  bankrupt  com- 
pany, and  certainly  few  were  desirous  of  making  loans  to  it 
when  there  seemed  practically  no  chance  of  repayment.  In 
the  latter  part  of  1668  and  in  the  year  1669,  several  attempts 
were  made  to  collect  the  early  subscriptions  which  remained 
unpaid.^ ^  This  effort  was  attended  with  very  little  success, 
because  the  company  had  ceased  to  be  of  importance.^^ 

One  of  the  reasons  why  the  company's  business  was 
practically  neglected  during  these  last  years  was  because 
many  of  its  members  began  to  trade  to  Africa  as  private 
individuals.  A  number  of  men  even  went  so  far  as  to  pro- 
ject an  organization  entirely  separate  from  the  company. 
Finally,  in  1667,  several  members  offered  to  raise  a  stock 
of  £15,000  to  carry  on  trade  to  the  region  of  the  Gambia 

63  A.  C.  R.,  75:58. 

5*IMd.,  75:  59. 

55  Ibid.,  75 :  70. 

66  JZjid.,  75:  77. 

57  Ibid.,  75:  85,  88. 

68  The  duke  of  Buckingham,  however,  paid  his  arrears,  which  led  the  duk© 
of  York  to  remark,  "I  will  give  the  Devil  his  due,  as  they  say  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham  hath  paid  in  his  money  to  the  Company."  Pepys,  Diary,  VIII, 
142. 


The  Eoyal  Adventurers  in  England  23 

Eiver.^^  This  proposal  was  debated  by  the  general  court 
and  finally  referred  to  a  committee  with  the  stipulation  that 
if  adopted  the  company  should  be  concerned  in  the  stock  of 
the  new  organization  to  the  extent  of  £3,000.^^  This  ar- 
rangement could  not  be  consummated  in  1667,^^  but  on  No- 
vember 27,  1668,  a  similar  proposition  was  adopted.^ ^ 

An  organization  to  be  known  as  the  Gambia  Adventurers 
was  to  have  the  sole  trade  to  northern  Africa  for  a  period 
of  seven  years,  beginning  with  January  1,  1669.  For  this 
privilege  they  were  to  pay  the  Company  of  Royal  Adven^ 
turers  £1,000  annually,  and  to  be  responsible  for  the  ex- 
pense of  the  forts  and  settlements  in  that  region.  These 
places  were  to  be  kept  in  good  repair  by  the  Gambia  Ad- 
venturers, who  were  to  receive  compensation  from  the  Royal 
Company  for  any  settlements.^^  A  suggestion  for  carry- 
ing on  the  trade  to  the  Gold  Coast  in  a  similar  way  received 
no  attention  from  the  general  court.  The  Gambia  Adven- 
turers occupied  the  same  house  in  London  with  the  com- 
pany, and  there  seems  little  doubt  but  that  its  members  con- 
sisted largely  of  those  stockholders  of  the  Royal  Adven- 
turers who  belonged  primarily  to  the  merchant  class.^*  It 
is  extremely  difficult  to  estimate  the  success  of  the  Gambia 
Adventurers,  since  their  records,  if  any  were  kept,  have  not 
been  preserved.  In  all  probability  their  trade  was  largely 
confined  to  the  important  products  of  the  Gambia  region, 
namely  elephants'  teeth,  hides  and  wax,  although  several 
of  their  ships  are  known  to  have  gone  to  the  West  Indies 
with  slaves. 

Since  many  of  the  company's  stockholders  were  inter- 
ested in  the  Gambia  venture  the  company's  business  on  the 
Gold  Coast  was  greatly  neglected.    During  the  year  1669 

BOA.  C.  E.,  75:61. 
aolhid.,  75:  62,  63. 

61  It  seems  certain,  however,  that  these  men  who  were  interested  in  the 
Gambia  trade  made  some  other  arrangements  at  that  time  by  means  of  which 
a  certain  amount  of  goods  was  sent  to  that  place.    A.  C.  E.,  75:  82,  S3. 

62  A.  C.  E.,  75:  83. 
<i3lhid.,  75:  82. 

6*  As  apposed  to  those  who  were  from  th«  king 's  court. 


24  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventukees 

the  company's  trade  became  so  insignificant  that,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  king,  Secretary  Arlington  asked  the  com- 
pany if  it  intended  to  continue  the  African  trade.^^  In  an- 
swer the  company  recounted  the  losses  incurred  in  the 
Anglo-Dutch  war  which,  it  declared,  had  made  it  necessary 
to  grant  licenses  to  private  traders  in  order  to  maintain  the 
forts  and  factories  in  Africa.  It  asked  the  king  to  assist 
the  company  by  paying  his  subscription,  by  helping  to  re- 
cover its  debts  in  Barbadoes,  and  by  granting  royal  vessels 
for  the  protection  of  the  African  coast.  With  such  encour- 
agement the  company  declared  that  it  would  endeavor  to 
raise  a  new  stock  to  carry  on  the  African  trade.^^  Eeceiv- 
ing  no  answer  to  their  appeal  the  members  of  the  company 
considered  various  expedients,  one  of  which  was  to  lease 
the  right  of  trade  on  the  Gold  Coast  ;^^  another  was  to  en- 
deavor to  obtain  new  subscriptions  to  the  company's  stock, 
which  seemed  impossible  because  of  the  fear  that  the  money 
would  be  used  toward  paying  the  company's  debts,  and  not 
for  the  purpose  of  trade.^^  In  fact,  it  had  been  only  too  evi- 
dent for  several  years  that  no  additions  could  be  made  to 
the  present  worthless  stock  of  the  company.  If  the  com- 
pany desired  to  continue  its  activities,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  an  entirely  new  stock  unencumbered  with  the  claims 
of  old  creditors.  The  main  problem  confronting  the  com- 
pany therefore  was  to  make  an  agreement  with  its  clamorous 
creditors. 

On  May  18,  1671,  a  general  court  of  the  adventurers  ap- 
proved of  a  proposition  to  form  a  new  joint  stock  under  the 
old  charter.^^    The  stock  of  the  shareholders,  which  at  this 

65  A.  C.  K.,  75:90,  91. 

66  C.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  1668-1669,  p.  459,  August  25,  1669. 

67  A.  C.  E.,  75 :  94. 

68  C.  O.  268 :  1,  charter  of  the  Eoyal  African  Company,  September  27,  1672. 

69  In  the  previous  April  a  bill  had  been  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Lords  to  incorporate  the  company  by  act  of  Parliament.  On  account  of  the 
various  plans  under  consideration  there  was  no  procedure  with  the  bill.  L.  J. 
(Journal  of  the  House  of  Lords),  XII:  480;  H.  M.  C.  (Historical  Manuscripts 
Commission),  report  9,  pt.  2,  p.  9b;  H.  L.  MSS.  (House  of  Lords,  Manu- 
scripts), draft  act  to  incorporate  the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  of  Eng- 
land Trading  into  Africa,  April  6,  1671. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England  25 

time  amounted  to  £120,200,  was  to  be  valued  at  ten  per 
cent,  and  so  reduced  to  £12,020 ;  this  was  to  form  the  first 
item  in  the  new  stock.  In  regard  to  the  company's  debts, 
which  amounted  to  about  £57,000,  rather  severe  measures 
were  attempted.  Two-thirds  of  the  debts,  or  £38,000,  was, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  stock,  reduced  to  one-tenth,  or  £3,800, 
which  was  to  form  the  second  item  in  the  new  stock.  The 
other  one-third  of  the  debts,  or  £19,000,  was  to  be  paid  to 
the  creditors  in  full  out  of  the  money  subscribed  by  the  new 
shareholders.'^^  Adding  the  cash  payment  of  £19,000  and 
estimating  at  par  the  £3,800  which  they  were  to  have  in  the 
new  stock,  the  creditors  were  to  receive  a  little  less  than 
thirty-five  per  cent,  of  their  debts.  If  they  did  not  accept 
this  arrangement  it  was  proposed  to  turn  over  the  com- 
pany's effects  to  them,  and  to  secure  an  entirely  new  charter 
from  the  king.  As  anticipated  the  plan  was  unsatisfactory 
to  many  of  the  creditors,  because  the  company  proposed  to 
pay  the  £19,000  in  six  monthly  installments  after  the  sub- 
scription for  the  new  joint  stock  was  begun."^^  On  October 
28,  1671,  the  preamble  and  articles  under  which  the  new 
subscription  was  to  be  made  were  approved  by  the  general 
court,  and  notice  was  given  to  the  refractory  creditors  that 
they  must  accept  the  arrangement  within  ten  days  or  the 
king  would  revoke  the  company's  patent.'^^  Although  the 
trouble  with  the  creditors  had  not  been  adjusted,  subscrip- 
tions on  the  new  stock  began  November  10,  1671.  A  few 
weeks  later  there  was  held  a  general  court  of  the  new  sub- 
scribers, at  which  Sir  Richard  Ford,  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant members  of  the  company  and  also  of  the  new  sub- 
scribers, declared  that  *Hhey  should  not  differ  for  small 
matters.  "^^  Thereupon  it  was  resolved  to  grant  the  cred- 
itors forty  per  cent,  on  their  debts  and  the  shareholders,  as 

70  A.  C.  R.,  75:  101,  102.    See  also  the  proposals  for  a  resettlement  of  the 
company's  affairs  in  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  67,  ff.  341,  342. 

71  A.  C.  R.,  75 :  106,  107. 

72  Ibid.,  75:  108. 

13  British  Husbandry  and  Trade,  II,  14. 


26  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

in  the  previous  plan,  ten  per  cent,  on  their  stocks*  This 
made  a  total  payment  of  £34,000  divided  as  follows :  £22,800, 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  company's  debts,  which  amounted  to 
£57,000 ;  and  £11,200,  ten  per  cent,  of  the  paid  subscriptions, 
which  amounted  to  about  £112,000."^^  In  lieu  of  this  pay- 
ment the  stockholders  were  to  cede  to  the  new  subscribers 
the  forts  and  other  property  in  Africa  and  all  the  payments 
due  from  the  Gambia  Adventurers  during  the  four  remain- 
ing years  of  their  contract. 

As  has  been  said  the  articles  of  subscription  were 
adopted  October  28,  1671.  They  provided  for  a  stock  of 
£100,000  under  the  old  charter,  which  should  be  paid  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  company  in  ten  monthly  payments  ending 
September  25,  1672.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  subscription 
reached  the  sum  of  £110,100.  It  was  also  provided  that 
every  new  subscriber  should  have  one  vote  in  the  general 
court  for  each  one  hundred  pound  share,  but  that  no  one 
should  be  an  officer  of  the  company,  unless  he  had  subscribed 
for  four  hundred  pounds  in  shares.  The  subgovernor  and 
the  deputy  governor  were  to  be  aided  by  a  court  of  assist- 
ants, reduced  to  twenty-four  in  number,  and  by  a  select 
committee  of  five  instead  of  the  committee  of  seven  as  for- 
merly. On  January  10, 1672,  there  was  held  a  general  court 
of  the  new  subscribers,  at  which  the  duke  of  York  was 
elected  governor;  Lord  Ashley,  subgovernor;  and  John 
Buckworth,  deputy  governor."^^  The  duke  of  York  and  Lord 
Ashley  were  well  known  for  their  interest  in  colonial  affairs. 
According  to  the  terms  of  the  subscription  the  deputy  gov- 
ernor was  to  be  a  merchant  and  a  member  of  the  committee 
of  five,  which  provision  indicated  plainly  that  the  company 
expected  Buckworth  to  manage  its  business  affairs. 

Although  the  new  subscription  had  been  made  to  replace 
the  stock  of  the  old  adventurers,  there  is  little  evidence  that 

i*A.  C.  E.,  76:  52,  the  preamble  under  which  the  subscriptions  were  made 
as  amended  December  19,  1671,  article  4;  ibid.,  75:  111'. 

T^Ihid.,  76,  October  22,  1674.  A  report  of  a  committee  says  that  there 
was  about  £22,000  of  the  old  subscriptions  which  had  not  been  paid. 

i^Ihid.,  100:  50. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  in  England  27 

anyone  regarded  it  necessary  to  obtain  a  new  charter.  Since 
the  creditors  still  refused  to  be  satisfied  with  the  conces- 
sion of  forty  per  cent,  on  their  debts,  however,  the  new  sub- 
scribers hesitated  to  pay  their  money  which  might  be  used 
to  pay  off  the  old  debts.'^^  It  therefore  became  necessary 
to  carry  out  the  previous  threat  against  the  creditors  to  in- 
duce the  king  to  grant  a  new  charter  to  the  present  sub- 
scribers, which  was  done  September  27,  1672."^^  This  ac- 
tion finally  convinced  the  creditors  that  they  could  obtain 
no  better  terms  than  had  been  offered,  and  therefore  they 
agreed  to  accept  them  and  also  to  surrender  all  their  rights 
to  the  patentees  of  the  new  charter  which  was  being  issued. 
That  the  attitude  of  the  creditors  was  not  the  only  moving 
force  toward  a  new  charter  is  probable,  because  the  old 
charter  was  not  adequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Royal 
African  Company  which  was  to  follow. 

77  C.  O.  268 :  1,  charter  of  the  Eoyal  African  Company,  September  27,  1672. 
•IS  Ibid. 


CHAPTER  III 

On  the  West  Coast  of  Afeica 

In  1660  all  the  colonial  powers  of  Europe  held  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  in  great  esteem,  not  only  because  it  pro- 
duced gold,  but  also  because  it  was  regarded  as  a  necessary 
adjunct  to  the  colonies  in  the  West  Indies  for  the  supply  of 
Negro  slaves.  During  their  long  war  with  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal the  Dutch  acquired  a  large  portion  of  the  West  Afri- 
can coast,  including  the  main  fortress  of  Si  George  d^El- 
mina.  This  fact  led  them  to  regard  themselves  as  having 
succeeded  to  the  exclusive  claims  of  the  Portuguese  on  the 
Gruinea  coast.^  With  this  end  in  view  the  Dutch  agreed  in 
the  treaty  of  August  6,  1661,  to  return  Brazil  to  the  Portu- 
guese as  compensation  for  the  forts  and  settlements  which 
they  had  seized  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.^  Although  the 
Dutch  played  the  most  prominent  part  in  depriving  the  Por- 
tuguese of  the  trade  to  Guinea,  the  English,  French,  Swedes, 
Danes,  and  Courlanders,  all  obtained  a  minor  commerce  to 
Africa  which  they  very  jealously  guarded.  In  a  country  so 
remote  from  the  laws  and  civilization  of  Europe  personal 
quarrels  often  arose  among  the  subjects  of  these  different 
nations,  who  were  inclined  to  obtain  what  they  could  by  fair 
means  or  foul.     They  magnified  these  petty  quarrels^  to 

1  John  II  of  Portugal  had  assumed  the  title  of  Lord  of  Guinea  in  1485. 

2  Dumont,  Corps  TJniversel  Diplomatique,  VI,  part  2,  p.  367. 

3  As  for  instance,  in  1659,  the  seizure  of  a  Dutch  ship  called  the  Vrede 
by  a  French  captain  under  the  pretense  of  a  Swedish  commission.  Lias,  West 
Indien,  1658  tot  1665,  Zeeland  chamber  to  the  Amsterdam  chamber  of  W.  I.  C. 
(West  India  Company),  March  1,  1660  (N.  S.).  Also,  in  the  same  year,  the 
Dutch  confiscated  a  Courland  ship  called  the  Pietas  for  trespassing  on  Dutch 
territory.  Ihid.,  Amsterdam  chamber  of  W.  I.  C.  to  S.  G.  (States  General), 
June  23,  1661  (N.  S.).  Louis  XIV  also  complained  about  the  disturbance  of 
French  commerce  on  the  Gambia  by  the  Dutch.  Lettres,  Memoires  et  N4go- 
ciations  de  Monsieur  le  Compte  d'Estrades,  I,  185,  Louis  XIV  to  d'Estrades, 
August  13,  1661   (N.  S.). 

28 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  29 

such  an  extent  tliat  they  continually  led  to  international 
complications. 

The  European  trade  in  Africa  was  confined  mainly  to 
the  regions  of  the  Gold  Coast  and  the  Gambia  Eiver.  Near 
the  mouth  of  the  Gambia  River  the  subjects  of  the  duke  of 
Courland  had  bought  an  island  from  the  natives  in  1651. 
On  this  island  they  built  a  small  fort,  called  St.  Andre, 
from  which  they  traded  to  several  factories  up  the  river.* 
Besides  the  Courlanders,  the  French  and  the  Dutch  carried 
on  a  very  precarious  trade  on  the  river.  In  the  early  part 
of  1659,  as  a  result  of  the  war  in  the  northern  part  of 
Europe,  the  duke  of  Courland  became  a  prisoner  of  the  king 
of  Sweden.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Amsterdam 
chamber  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company*  induced  the 
Duke's  commissioner,  Henry  Momber,  to  enter  into  a  con- 
tract turning  over  to  it  all  the  duke's  possessions  in  the 
Gambia  River.  The  Dutch  were  to  maintain  the  factories 
and  to  enjoy  the  trade  until  the  duke  was  able  to  resume 
possession.  The  contract  was  of  very  doubtful  value,  since 
Momber  himself  admitted  that  he  had  no  power  to  make  it, 
but  notwithstanding  this  fact  he  undertook  to  carry  out  its 
terms.^  Shortly  after  the  Dutch  took  possession  of  the 
island  belonging  to  the  duke  of  Courland  it  was  surprised 
and  plundered  by  a  French  pirate  who,  in  return  for  a  con- 
sideration, handed  it  over  to  a  Groningen  merchant  of  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company.  The  Groningen  chamber  of 
this  company  was  not  anxious  to  retain  the  island  and  there- 
fore signified  to  Momber  its  willingness  to  return  it  to  Cour- 
land.   Momber,  who  feared  to  have  caused  the  displeasure 

4  Diederielis,  pp.  20,  21.  (Diederichs,  H.,  Serzog  Jacobs  von  Kurland 
Kolonien  an  der  Westlcuste  von  Afrika.) 

6  The  West  India  CompaTiy  was  subdivided  into  the  chambers  of  Amster- 
dam, Groningen,  Zeeland,  North  Holland  and  Friesland,  and  the  Maas.  The 
Amsterdam  chamber  was  much  the  most  important;  it  was  known  therefore 
as  the  "presidiale"  chamber. 

6C.  O.  1:  16,  f.  191,  February  4,  1659  (N.  S.).  At  the  same  time  Mom- 
ber advised  Steele,  the  Courland  commander  at  Fort  St.  Andre,  to  pay  no 
attention  to  the  contract  if  he  was  in  a  position  to  defend  himself,  but  Steele 
was  unable  to  resist.    Diederichs,  pp.  45,  46. 


30  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

of  the  duke  by  Ms  contract,  was  glad  to  regain  tlie  island 
in  June,  1660.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  several  ships  be- 
longing to  the  Amsterdam  chamber  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany entered  the  Gambia  Eiver  and  took  possession  of  the 
island,  keeping  the  Courlanders  prisoners  for  a  month.  The 
natives,  however,  interfered  in  behalf  of  the  Courlanders, 
and  the  Dutch  were  finally  compelled  to  retire  to  Cape 
Verde,  leaving  Otto  Steele,  the  duke's  commander,  in  pos- 
session.''' 

It  was  during  this  state  of  affairs  on  the  African  coast 
that  the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  was  organized  in 
England.  It  received  its  charter  December  18,  1660.  In 
the  same  month.  Captain  Robert  Holmes  sailed  from 
England  in  command  of  the  five  royal  ships  which  com- 
posed the  first  expedition.  In  March,  1661,  he  arrived 
at  Cape  Verde,  where  he  at  once  informed  the  Dutch 
commander  that  he  had  orders  from  Charles  II  to  warn 
all  persons  of  whatsoever  nation  that  the  right  of  trade 
and  navigation  from  Cape  Verde  to  the  Cape  of  Grood 
Hope  belonged  exclusively  to  the  king  of  England.  Holmes 
ordered  the  Dutch  to  vacate  their  forts  and  to  abandon  the 
coast  within  six  or  seven  months.^  Thereupon  he  seized 
the  island  of  Boa  Vista,  one  of  the  Cape  Verde  group 
claimed  by  the  Dutch  since  1621.  Later  he  sent  a  frigate 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia.  Otto  Steele,  the  Courland 
commander  of  Fort  St.  Andre,  unable  to  discern  whether 
friend  or  foe  was  approaching,  fired  upon  the  frigate. 
Holmes  considered  this  an  insult,^  and  two  days  later  sent  a 
note  to  Steele  requiring  him  to  surrender  the  island  to  the 
English  within  ten  days.  At  first  Steele  refused  to  obey, 
maintaining  that  the  fort  was  the  rightful  possession  of  the 
duke  of  Courland.    Thereupon  Holmes  threatened  to  level 

7  Diederichs,  pp.  46-8;  C.  O.  1:  16,  ff.  193,  195-7. 

8  Resolution  of  S.  G.,  July  28,  1661  (N.  S.)  ;  Aitzema,  X,  76.  (Aitzema, 
Lieuwe  van,  Historie  of  Verhael  van  Sdken  van  Staet  en  Oorlogh.) 

0  See  the  oath  taken  by  Holmes '  men  dated  March  7,  1660/1,  enclosed  in 
the  letter  of  Nassau  and  others  to  the  estates  of  H.  and  W.  F.  (HcHand  and 
West  Friesland),  January  17/27,  1662. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  31 

the  fort  to  the  ground.  Steele  realized  that  with  so  few  men 
and  supplies  resistance  was  useless,  and  therefore  he  com- 
plied with  Holmes'  demands.^^  The  English  assumed  pos- 
session of  the  island,  but  after  a  fire  had  destroyed  nearly 
all  the  fort  and  its  magazine/^  they  chose  to  abandon  it, 
and  to  settle  on  two  other  islands,  which  they  named  Charles 
Island  and  James  Island  respectively  in  honor  of  their 
royal  patrons.  In  this  way  the  English  gained  their  first 
possessions  in  the  Gambia  Eiver. 

When  Captain  Holmes  left  England  the  Dutch  ambas- 
sadors in  London  informed  the  States  General  that  he  had 
gone  to  the  ^^reviere  Guijana''  where  he  would  build  a  fort, 
establish  a  trade  and  search  for  gold  mines.  This  announce- 
ment was  immediately  sent  to  the  West  India  Company 
which  had  received  the  more  authentic  advice  that  the  Eng- 
lish ships  were  on  the  way  to  the  Gambia  Eiver.  The  West 
India  Company  urged  that  the  Dutch  ambassadors  in  Lon- 
don be  instructed  to  inquire  more  fully  as  to  the  purposes 
of  the  expedition,  and  to  prevent  if  possible  anything  being 
done  to  the  prejudice  of  the  company.^^  The  ambassadors 
learned  that  the  English  maintained  that  all  nations  had  a 
right  to  trade  on  the  Gambia  Eiver,  and  that  other  nations 
than  the  Dutch  had  forts  there. ^^  On  the  other  hand,  the 
West  India  Company  maintained  that  ever  since  its  forma- 
tion it  had  traded  on  the  Gambia  Eiver  and  that,  since  the 
contract  with  the  duke  of  Courland,  it  had  been  in  complete 
possession  of  the  river.^*  After  receiving  this  statement 
the  States  General  requested  their  ambassadors  in  London 
to  see  that  the  company's  forts  and  lodges  in  the  Gambia 

IOC.  O.  1:  16,  f.  193,  relation  of  Otto  Steele;  Diedericlis,  p.  49.  Holmes 
afterward  admitted  that  there  were  but  two  men  and  a  boy  in  the  fort  when 
it  was  taken.  C.  O.  1 :  30,  f .  74„  Holmes  to  Sir  Edward  Walker,  May  20, 
1673. 

iiVanGogh   and   others   to   S.   G.,   September   6/16,    1661. 

12  Lias,  West  Indien,  1658  tot  1665,  Amsterdam  chamber  of  W.  I.  C.  to 
S.  G.,  January  10,  1661   (N.  S.). 

i3Kesolution  of  S.  G.,  January  13,  1661   (N.  S.). 

1*  Lias,  West  Indien,  1658  tot  1665,  Amsterdam  chamber  of  W.  I.  C.  to 
S.  G.,  January  31,  1661  (N.  S.). 


32  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

River  were  not  disturbed.^^  When  the  news  of  Holmes' 
exploit  and  his  reported  warning  to  the  Dutch  commander 
to  evacuate  the  entire  African  coast  reached  the  United 
Netherlands,  the  "West  India  Company  at  once  lodged  a 
complaint  with  the  States  General. ^^  At  their  suggestion 
the  Dutch  ambassadors  obtained  an  audience  with  Charles 
II,  who  assured  them  that  neither  he  nor  his  officers  had 
given  any  order  for  the  injury  which  had  been  done  to  the 
subjects  of  the  United  Netherlands,  much  less  to  possess 
any  of  their  forts.  The  king  also  assured  them  that,  if 
Holmes  had  committed  any  unjust  action,  he  and  his  officers 
should  be  exemplar ily  punished.^''  Sir  G-eorge  Downing, 
the  English  envoy  extraordinary  at  The  Hague,  further  de- 
clared that  Holmes  had  very  strict  instructions  not  to  dis- 
turb the  subjects  of  the  United  Netherlands  or  those  of  any 
other  nation,  and  that,  if  anything  to  the  contrary  had  been 
done,  it  was  without  the  least  authority.^^  Finally  on  Au- 
gust 14,  1661,  Charles  II  declared  to  the  States  General  that 
their  friendship  was  very  dear  to  him  and  that  he  would 
under  no  circumstances  violate  the  ** Droit  de  Gens.''^® 
With  all  this  extravagant  profession  of  good  will  no  definite 
assurance  was  given  the  Dutch  that  the  islands  of  St.  Andre 
and  Boa  Vista  would  be  restored  to  them.  On  August  16, 
Downing  wrote  to  the  earl  of  Clarendon  that  the  island  of 
St.  Andre  did  not  belong  to  the  Dutch  at  all,  but  to  the  duke 
of  Courland,  and  that  an  answer  to  this  effect  could  be  re- 
turned to  the  Dutch  ambassadors  if  they  objected  to  Holmes' 
actions.  Furthermore,  Downing  intimated  that  the  duke 
could  probably  be  induced  to  resign  his  claims  to  the 
English.2o 

15  Eesolution  of  S.  G.,  February  5,  1661   (N.  S.). 
lej&tU,  July  2&,  1661  (N.  S.). 

iTClar.  St.  Paps.  (Clarendon  State  Papers),  104,  f.  211,  the  Dutch  am^ 
tassadora  to  Euysch,  August  5,  1661  (N.  S.). 

IS  Ibid.,  104,  f.  217,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  August  8,  1661. 

19  Aitzema,  X,  78,  Charles  II  to  S.  G.,  August  14,  1661. 

20  Clar.  St.  Paps.,  104 :  237,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  August  19,  1661  (N. 
S.).  In  another  letter  Downing  declared,  ''it  would  be  very  well  to  accept 
of  the  Duke  his  transferring  his  interest  to  his  Ma*'®,  and  for  the  Dutcli 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  33 

Meanwhile,  Captain  Holmes,  who  was  responsible  for 
this  unpleasant  international  complication,  had  returned 
from  Guinea.  Since  he  suffered  no  punishment  for  his  vio- 
lent actions  on  the  African  coast  except  the  loss  of  his 
salary,2i  the  Dutch  ambassadors  in  London  reminded  the 
king  that  on  August  14,  1661,  he  had  absolutely  disclaimed 
the  proceedings  of  Holmes.^^  They  requested,  therefore, 
that  Holmes  be  called  to  account  for  his  actions,  that  Fort 
St.  Andre  be  restored,  that  reparation  for  damages  be  made, 
and  that  in  the  future  the  king's  subjects  observe  the  laws 
of  nations  more  regularly.^^  Holmes  was  ordered  before 
the  Privy  Council  to  answer  to  the  charges  of  the  ambas- 
sadors,2*  but  no  effort  was  made  to  force  him  to  respond. 
The  duke  of  York  kept  him  busy  with  the  fleet,  where  he  in- 
curred some  official  displeasure  by  failing  to  require  a 
Swedish  ship  to  strike  colors  to  his  Majesty's  ships  in  Eng- 
lish seas,  and  was  therefore  required  to  be  detained  until 
further  order.^^  Having  extricated  himself  from  this 
trouble  Holmes  finally  appeared  before  the  Privy  Council 
in  January,  1662,^^  where  he  offered  **many  reasons''  in 
justification  of  his  actions  in  Guinea.^^  He  easily  satisfied 
the  king  and  the  members  of  the  Privy  Council;  this  is 
not  surprising  since  many  of  these  men  had  helped  to  or- 
ganize and  finance  the  expedition. 

amb'*  you  will  do  well  to  be  6  or  8  moneths  in  examining  the  matter  and  then 
let  them  know  his  Ma"^»  mind.''  Egerton  MS8.,  2'538,  f.  12,  Downing  to 
Nicholas,  January  27,  1661/2. 

21  He  suffered  this  punishment  only  because  he  had  taken  to  Guinea  a 
number  of  extra  men  whose  wages  the  king  felt  obliged  to  pay.  Admiralty 
Papers,  Navy  Board,  In-Letters,  5,  James  to  the  Navy  Board,  September  10, 
1061. 

22  This  seems  to  be  a  little  too  much  to  say  of  the  king 's  letter. 

28  C.  O.  1 :  15,  f .  168,  VanGogh  and  others  to  S.  G.,  October  19/29,  1661. 

24  P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  2:  417,  October  25,  1661. 

25  Hid.,  p.  459,  November  27,  1661. 

2«Ibid.,  pp.  510,  514,  January  8,  10,  1662.  He  may  also  have  been  be- 
fore the  Council  in  December,  as  an  order  was  made  on  December  21,  1661, 
rescinding  the  former  order  to  stop  his  pay.  Admiralty  Papers,  Navy  Board, 
In-Letters,  6,  James  to  the  Navy  Board,  December  21,  1661. 

27  Nassau  and  Hoom  to  the  estates  of  H.  and  W.  F.,  January  17/27,  1662. 


34  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventukees 

By  this  time  it  liad  become  apparent  that  Charles  II  did 
not  intend  to  make  immediate  restitution  of  St.  Andre  to 
the  Dutch.  This  was  in  accordance  with  Downing 's  advice 
*  Ho  be  6  or  8  months  in  examining  the  matter''  before  mak- 
ing a  decision.2^  The  longer  the  English  retained  pos- 
session of  the  island  the  less  likely  the  Dutch  were  to  re- 
gain it.  Finally,  the  duke  of  Courland  sent  a  representa- 
tive, Adolph  Wolf ratt,  to  London  to  insist  upon  the  restitu- 
tion of  his  possessions.  Originally  the  English  had  ap- 
parently supported  the  claims  of  the  duke  of  Courland,  but 
it  developed  that  they  were  no  more  inclined  to  return  St. 
Andre  to  the  duke  of  Courland  than  to  the  Dutch.  The 
matter  dragged  on  until  November  17,  1664,  when  a  con- 
tract was  made  between  Charles  II  and  the  duke  whereby 
the  latter  surrendered  all  his  rights  on  the  Gambia  River. 
In  return  he  received  certain  trading  privileges  there  and 
the  island  of  Tobago  in  the  West  Indies.^^ 

When  one  proceeds  from  the  Cape  Verde  region  to  the 
Gold  Coast  one  finds  that  Dutch  influence  was  especially 
strong.  From  Elmina  and  other  forts  the  Dutch  commanded 
the  largest  portion  of  the  trade  along  this  coast.  However, 
the  Danes,  Swedes  and  English  had  long  maintained  a  com- 
merce on  the  Gold  Coast  where  they  also  had  established  a 
number  of  factories.  In  1658,  Hendrik  CarlofiP,  an  adven- 
turer carrying  a  Danish  commission,  attacked  and  made 
himself  master  of  Cape  Corse  which  had  been  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Swedes  since  1651.  After  entering  into 
friendly  relations  with  the  Dutch  at  Elmina,^^  Carloff  re- 
turned to  Europe,  leaving  his  lieutenant,  Samuel  Smits,  in 
charge  of  the  fort.  Fearing  that  the  Swedes  and  the  Eng- 
lish, who  had  entered  into  an  alliance,  might  endeavor  to 
regain  Cape  Corse,  Carloff  advised  Smits  to  surrender  the 
fort  to  Jasper  van  Heusden,  director  general  of  the  West 
India  Company  on  the  Gold  Coast.    The  instructions  were 

28  Egerton  MSS.,  2538,  f.  12,  Downing  to  Nicholas,  January  27,  1661/2. 

29  C.  O.  1:  18,  ff.  310,  311. 

30  Papieren  van  Jolian  de  Witt  betreffende  de  Oost  en  West  Indisch©  com- 
pagnie,  Carloff  to  Yalckenburg,  February  15,  16,  1658  (N.  S.). 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  35 

unnecessary,  as  Smits  had  surrendered  Cape  Corse  to  the 
Dutch  on  April  15,  1659.  In  return  for  this  fort  Smits  and 
one  of  his  compatriots  received  5,000  and  4,000  gulden 
respectively.^^ 

At  the  time  when  Hendrik  Carloff  seized  Cape  Corse  the 
English  had  there^^  a  factory  to  which  they  traded  from 
their  main  fort  at  Kormentine.^^  On  May  1, 1659,  very  soon 
after  the  Dutch  obtained  possession  of  the  place,  the  Eng- 
lish factory  with  all  its  goods  was  burned  by  the  natives, 
perhaps  at  the  instigation  of  the  Dutch.  The  Hollanders, 
however,  were  not  without  misfortunes  of  their  own,  for 
after  disavowing  Smits '  contract  the  Danes  sent  a  new  ex- 
pedition to  Guinea  which  seized  a  hill  commanding  Cape 
Corse,  on  which  they  built  the  fort  of  Fredericksburg. 
Furthermore  the  Swedes,  who  had  been  dispossessed  of 
Cape  Corse  by  the  Danes  with  the  assistance  of  natives, 
toward  the  end  of  1660,  drove  the  Dutch  out  of  Cape  Corse. 
Since  the  Swedes  were  insignificant  in  number  the  fort 
very  shortly  fell  into  the  control  of  the  vacillating  Negro 
inhabitants. 

As  soon  as  the  natives  obtained  possession  of  Cape  Corse 
they  permitted  the  English  to  rebuild  their  factory  at  that 
place.  An  agreement  was  also  made  by  which,  upon  the 
payment  of  a  certain  sum  of  money,  the  fort  was  to  be  sur- 
rendered to  the  English.^^  Since  the  Dutch  maintained  that 
Cape  Corse  belonged  exclusively  to  them  by  reason  of  their 
contract  with  the  Danes,  they  determined  to  prevent  the 
English  from  obtaining  possession  of  it.  Furthermore,  iu 
order  to  exclude  other  Europeans  from  trading  to  any  part 
of  the  Gold  Coast,  the  Dutch  declared  a  blockade  on  the 
whole  coast,  in  which  Komenda  and  other  villages  as  well 

siLoketkas,  Staten  Generaal,  Sweden,  no.  38. 

32  Bemonstrantie  aen  de  Ho.  Mo,  Heeren  de  Staten  Generael  der  Ver- 
eenighde  Nederlanden,  p.  18. 

83  Dammaert,  Journal,  September  19,  1652,  May  18,  1653,  December  7, 
19,  1655,  April  22,  1656   (N.  S.). 

s*S.  P.,  Holland,  178,  f.  123,  undated  paper  dealing  with  the  English 
title  to  Cape  Corse. 


36  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

as  Cape  Corse  were  situated.  To  carry  out  this  policy  they 
kept  several  ships  plying  up  and  down  the  coast. 

The  Dutch  then  proceeded  to  capture  the  following  Eng- 
lish ships  for  endeavoring  to  trade  on  the  Gold  Coast :  the 
'^Blackboy/'  April,  1661;  the  ^'Daniel/'  May,  1661;  the 
'^Merchant's  Delight, '^^s  August,  1661;  the  '^ Charles,''  Au- 
gust, 1661;  the  '^ Paragon,"  October,  1661;  the  '' Ethi- 
opian," January,  1662.  In  addition  to  these  injuries  the 
Dutch  forbade  the  English  at  Kormentine  to  trade  with  the 
factory  at  Cape  Corse,  which  warning  was  no  sooner  given 
than  the  factory  was  mysteriously  destroyed  by  fire  a  sec- 
ond time.  May  22,  1661.  The  English  bitterly  complained 
that  this  misfortune  was  due  to  the  instigation  of  the 
Dutch.36 

In  like  manner  the  Dutch  captured  a  Swedish  ship  and 
interfered  with  the  trade  of  the  Danes  to  their  fort  of  Fred- 
ericksburg,^"^ which  action  greatly  incensed  the  Danish  Af- 
rican Company.  Since  voluntary  satisfaction  for  these  in- 
juries could  not  be  expected,  Simon  de  Petkum,  the  Danish 
resident  in  London,  caused  the  arrest  of  a  Dutch  West 
India  ship,  the  **Graf  Enno,"  which  was  one  of  the  main 
offenders  in  seizing  Danish  as  well  as  English  ships  on  the 
Guinea  coast.^^  The  case  was  brought  before  the  Admiralty 
Court,  and  judgment  of  condemnation  was  rendered  in 
favor  of  the  Danes.^^ 

35  Afterwards  retaken  by  the  English  in  the  West  Indies,  toward  the  last 
of  ieG3.  Brieven  van  d©  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  Generaal, 
Downing  to  8.  G.,  February  3,  1663/4.     O.  S. 

s«  Admiralty  High  Court,  Libels,  114,  no.  231. 

«7Aitzema,  X,  277. 

88  Admiralty  High  Coiirt,  Libels,  115,  no.  124;  ibid.,  Examinations,  74, 
deposition  of  Edward  Paulstagge,  March  7,  1662/3. 

39  Nassau  and  Hoom  to  the  estates  of  H.  and  W.  F.,  January  24/Febru- 
ary  3,  1662.  In  March,  1663,  Bernard  Sparke,  owner  of  the  Paragon,  which 
the  Dutch  had  seized  on  the  Gold  Coast,  arrested  a  West  India  Company  ship 
at  Ilfracombe.  Sparke  asked  for  the  condemnation  of  the  ship,  but  on  account 
of  a  treaty  entered  into  between  the  English  and  the  Dutch  in  September, 
1662,  the  Privy  Council  refused  to  detain  the  Dutch  ship.  Cunaeus  to  the 
estates  of  H.  and  W.  F.,  March  27/ April  6,  1663;  P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  3:  357, 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  37 

At  The  Hague,  Sir  George  Downing  now  had  a  great  op- 
portunity to  vent  his  remarkable  store  of  epithets  on  the 
Dutch  for  their  violent  actions  against  English  vessels  in 
Guinea.  He  complained  to  the  States  General  ''that  the 
people  of  this  contry  doe  everywhere  as  oppertunity  offers 
sett  upon,  rob  and  spoyle^*  the  English  subjects;  and  that 
these  things  were  being  done  not  only  by  the  West  India 
Company  but  even  by  ships  of  war  belonging  to  the  Dutch 
government.  Downing  threatened  that  the  king  would 
' '  give  order  for  the  seizing  of  a  proportionable  number  and 
value  of  ships  and  merchandises  belonginge  to  this  contrey 
and  distribute  them  amongst  them  accordinge  ...  to  their 
respective  losses,  and  will  take  care  that  noe  ships  bee 
seized  but  such  as  belong  to  those  provinces,  and  to  such 
townes  in  those  provinces,  to  which  the  ships  belonged  that 
did  commit  these  violences  and  robberies."*^  In  this  way 
Downing  hoped  to  set  the  non-maritime  towns  and  provinces 
of  the  Netherlands  against  those  which  were  interested  in 
commerce,  and  thus  to  secure  a  cessation  of  the  seizures. 
Upon  one  occasion  in  the  time  of  Cromwell  he  had  used  this 
method  successfully.  Downing  declared  too  that,  to  obtain 
justice  in  the  United  Provinces,  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Dutch  to  realize  that  his  Majesty  would  have  satisfaction 
for  injuries  done  ''if  not  by  faire  means,  by  force. ''^^ 

The  Dutch  ignored  Downing 's  demands,  even  though 
on  June  6,  1662,  he  reminded  them  of  their  unjust  actions  on 
the  Gold  Coast.^2  In  all  probability  they  were  trusting  to 
obviate  all  difficulties  in  the  commercial  treaty  then  being 
negotiated  at  London.  In  August,  a  new  complaint  was 
made  to  the  States  GeneraP^  concerning  the  seizure  of  the 
English  ship,  "Content,''  off  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.^* 
Shortly  thereafter,  the  States  General  declared  with  respect 

40  Egerton  MSS.,  2538,  ff.  68,  69,  Downing  to  S.  G'.,  May  3/13,  1663. 
*i  aar.  St.  Paps.,  76,  ff.  217,  218,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  May  9,  1662. 
O.  S. 

*2  Egerton  MSS.,  2538,  f .  73,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  June  6/16,  1662. 

43  Ibid.,  f .  106,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  August  6/16,  1662. 

44  Add.  MSS.    (Additional  Manuscripts),  22,919,  f.  270. 


38  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

to  the  English  ship,  '^ Daniel/'  seized  in  1661,  that  it  was  a 
gross  misrepresentation  for  the  owner  to  maintain  that  the 
master  and  crew  of  the  ship  were  English.  Furthermore, 
the  Dutch  advanced  proof  that  the  ship  had  been  fitted  out 
with  a  cargo  in  Amsterdam,  and  had  afterwards  attempted 
to  pass  as  an  English  ship,  in  order  to  escape  being  seized 
as  an  interloper  by  the  West  India  Company.^^ 

Further  consideration  regarding  these  seizures  was  post- 
poned indefinitely  by  the  15th  article  of  the  commercial 
treaty  entered  into  between  the  United  Provinces  and  Eng- 
land in  September,  1662.^^  In  accordance  with  its  provi- 
sions the  ships  which  the  Dutch  had  seized  on  the  African 
coast  were  included  in  the  lists  of  damages  which  the  Eng- 
lish submitted  against  the  United  Provinces.  Thereafter 
the  ships  formed  no  important  part  in  the  negotiations  be- 
tween the  two  nations. 

Thus  far  the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  which  had 
sent  out  the  expedition  under  Captain  Robert  Holmes  had 
not  been  more  active  on  the  Gold  Coast  than  numerous 
private  traders  of  England.  The  seizure  of  ships  by  the 
Dutch  had  been  a  matter  of  much  apprehension  to  all  the 
traders  on  the  coast,  but  from  now  on  it  mainly  concerned 
the  Royal  Adventurers.  The  company  was  anxious  to  es- 
tablish new  forts  and  factories  in  Africa  in  order  to  build  up 
a  lucrative  trade.  Its  agents  therefore  began  to  erect  a 
lodge  at  Tacorary,  a  village  not  far  from  Cape  Corse.  The 
Dutch,  although  they  had  not  succeeded  in  recovering  Cape 
Corse  from  the  natives,  considered  that  the  fort  and  the 
surrounding  territory  belonged  to  them.  On  May  24,  1662, 
they  bade  the  English  to  desist  from  further  invasion  of 
their  rights  at  Tacorary  or  any  other  place  under  Dutch 
obedience.^^  The  English,  however,  disregarded  the  Dutch 
protest  and  notwithstanding  their  opposition  the  factory 
was  completed.^^    In  less  than  a  month  from  this  time  the 

*5  Resolution  of  S.  G.,  August  28,  1662   (N.  S.). 
*6Dumont,  Corps  Universel  Diplomatique,  VI,  part  2,  pp.  424,  425. 
4"^  Index  op  het  Register  en  Accorden  met  de  NatureUen,  Wilree  to  Ed- 
mund Young,  May  24,  1662  (N.  S.). 
*8S.  P.,  Holland,  176,  f.  119. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  39 

natives  drove  the  Dutch  out  of  their  factory  in  Comany.^^ 
Thereupon  the  Dutch  determined  to  continue  even  more 
vigorously  their  policy  of  blockading  the  whole  coast  and, 
by  cutting  off  the  trade  of  the  natives  with  the  English,  to 
force  the  Negroes  into  subjection  and  to  recover  Comany 
and  the  fort  at  Cape  Corse. 

In  October,  1662,  two  ships  of  the  Royal  Adventurers, 
the  ^^  Charles '*  and  the  ^ '  James, '^  were  prevented  from  trad- 
ing to  Komenda  by  the  ^^ Golden  Lyon''  and  two  other 
Dutch  men-of-war.^^  When  asked  as  to  the  reason  for  this 
interruption  of  trade  the  Dutch  general,  Dirck  Wilree,  re- 
plied that  he  had  caused  the  ports  of  Comany  and  Cape 
Corse  to  be  blockaded  until  the  natives  rendered  satisfac- 
tion for  the  injuries  which  they  had  committed  against  the 
Dutch.^^  When  the  two  English  ships  continued  their 
effort  to  trade  at  Cape  Corse  and  other  villages,  the  **  Gol- 
den Lyon''  followed  them  from  place  to  place,  and  on  one 
occasion  seized  a  small  skiff  which  was  attempting  to  land 
some  goods.  Discouraged  at  the  treatment  accorded  to 
them  the  English  officers  finally  gave  up  the  attempt  to 
trade  on  the  Gold  Coast,  and  returned  home  with  their  ships, 
after  delivering  to  the  Dutch  a  solemn  protest  against  the 
injuries  which  they  had  suffered.^ ^ 

When  Secretary  Williamson  informed  Sir  George  Down- 
ing of  the  misfortunes  of  the  two  ships,  ** Charles"  and 
*^  James,"  and  asked  him  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  Royal 
Company  at  The  Hague,  Downing  promised  to  do  what  he 
could,  but  since  he  was  so  well  acquainted  with  the  Dutch 
method  of  treating  such  complaints  he  did  not  anticipate 
favorable  results.  **God  help  them,"  he  declared,  ^4f  they 
(the  Royal  Company)  depend  upon  paper  relief."  With 
the  duke  of  York  at  the  head  of  the  Company  and  the  king 

49  Add.  MSS.,  22,919,  f .  262. 

so  Hid.,  22,920,  f.  24,  afadavit  of  William  Crawford  and  others,  before 
the  Admiralty  High  Court,  February  13,  1663/4. 

SI  Ibid.,  22,919,  f.  262,  Wilree  to  the  ofScers  of  the  ship  James,  Novem- 
ber 9,  1662   (N.  S.). 

szlMd.,  22,920,  f.  24,  afSdavit  of  Crawford  and  others,  February  13, 
1663/4. 


40  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

as  well  as  many  of  his  courtiers  greatly  concerned  in  its 
welfare,  lie  considered  that  it  would  be  well  cared  for. 
** Whatever  injuries  the  Dutch  do  them/*  he  exclaimed,  ^4et 
them  be  sure  to  do  the  Dutch  greater,  &  then  let  me  alone  to 
mediate  between  them,  but  without  this  all  other  wayes  will 
signify  not  a  rush.'^^^ 

Downing  demanded  of  the  States  General  whether  Dirck 
Wilree  had  been  given  any  authority  to  blockade  the  entire 
coasts  of  Comany  and  to  forbid  all  English  trade  with  the 
natives.^ ^  In  this  way  he  hoped  either  to  have  the  States 
General  disavow  Wilree 's  action  or  to  raise  the  question 
whether  the  West  India  Company  had  a  right  to  institute 
such  a  blockade.  In  letters  to  Clarendon  and  Bennet,  Down- 
ing, maintained  that  the  Dutch  were  accustomed,  both  in 
West  Africa  and  in  the  East  Indies,  to  declare  war  on  the 
natives  and  to  cut  them  off  from  all  trade  with  foreigners 
until  they  agreed  to  sell  their  goods  only  to  the  Dutch. 
Downing  declared  that  the  English  had  already  lost  a  great 
deal  of  trade  on  account  of  such  impositions,  and  that  if 
they  were  continued  the  East  India  and  African  companies 
would  be  ruined.  *  *  Pay  them  in  their  own  kind  &  sett  their 
subjects  a  crying  as  well  as  his  Maj"^^'  &  you  will  have  a 
very  faire  correspondence,  &  they  will  take  heed  what  they 
doe,  and  his  Maj"®  shall  be  as  much  honored  &  loved  here 
as  he  hath  been  dispised,  for  they  love  nor  honor  none  but 
them  that  they  thinck  both  can  &  dare  bite  them.*'^^*  After 
urging  the  king  to  take  immediate  action  concerning  their 
ships  the  members  of  the  Royal  Company  requested  Down- 
ing *Ho  drive  the  States  to  the  most  positive  reply. '*  They 
declared  that  any  answer  would,  at  least,  expedite  matters, 
and  *4f  those  states  will  owne  that  Wilrey  had  their  orders 
to  warrant  his  action,  wee  will  hope,  it  may  begett  some 
parelel  resolution  of  state  here.    If  they  disclaim  it,  and 

53  S.  p.,  Holland,  167,  f .  251,  Downing  to  Williamson,  September  11,  1G63. 
O.  S. 

54  Add.  MSS.,  22,920,  ff.  13,  14,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  September  17/27,  1663. 
54aClar.   St.   Paps.,   106,   f.   192,  Downing  to   Clarendon,   September   18, 

1663.     0.  S.;  S.  P.,  Holland,  167,  ff.  271,  272,  Downing  to  Bennet. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  41 

leave  their  West  India  Company  to  be  responcible,  they  will 
send  us  to  a  towne  where  there  is  noe  house,  unlesse  wee  pay 
ourselves,  per  legem  talionis. '  *^^ 

In  answer  to  Downing 's  memorial  concerning  the 
** Charles'*  and  the  *^  James *'  the  West  India  Company  con- 
fined itself  to  a  justification  of  Wilree's  actions,  and  omitted 
to  say  anything  about  the  authority  by  which  they  had  been 
committed.^^  Although  Downing  insisted  that  a  definite 
answer  be  given  him  on  this  point,  the  States  General  also 
evaded  the  issue  by  maintaining  that  nothing  had  been  done 
by  the  company  but  what  justice  and  necessity  required. 
They  supported  the  company  in  its  contention  that  Cape 
Corse  and  Comany  were  effectually  blockaded,  and  there- 
fore the  ships  ** Charles''  and  *^ James"  had  no  right  to 
trade  there.*^^ 

Such  a  justification  of  the  West  India  Company's  ac- 
tions could  scarcely  be  satisfactory  to  Downing  or  to  those 
in  charge  of  foreign  affairs  in  England.  The  Royal  Com- 
pany was  very  much  concerned  also  lest  the  Dutch  would 
continue  to  interrupt  the  ships  which  it  sent  to  the  Gold 
Coast.  To  add  to  this  adverse  condition  news  arrived  that, 
about  the  first  of  June,  1663,^^  the  Dutch  had  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  regaining  possession  of  Cape  Corse.  At  this  there 
was  much  satisfaction  in  Holland.  Downing  wrote  that 
since  the  Dutch  now  had  the  two  important  castles  of  El- 
mina  and  Cape  Corse,  commanding  the  most  important  trade 
in  all  Guinea,  they  intended  to  prohibit  all  other  nations 
from  trading  to  that  region.^^  Over  this  turn  of  events 
there  was  great  disappointment  among  the  members  of  the 
Royal  Company,  who  had  confidently  expected  to  obtain 
Cape  Corse  from  the  natives.    In  fact,  they  had  intended  to 

55  Add.  MSS.,  22,&20,  f.  22,  Royal  Company  to  Downing,  September  25, 
1663. 

seClar.  St.  Paps.,  106,  f.  223,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  October  2,  1663 
O.  S. 

5T  S.  P.,  Holland,  168,  ff.  41,  42. 

58  Hid.,  176,  f.  121. 

59lUd.,  167,  f.  284,  Downing  to  Bennet,  September  25,  1664  (O.  S.). 


42  The  Company  of  Eoyal.  Adventurers 

make  Cape  Corse  their  main  strongliold  and  at  that  place 
establish  their  principal  trade.^^ 

Charles  II  decided  that  it  was  time  to  come  to  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Eoyal  Company,  and  on  September  5,  1663, 
he  lent  three  of  his  ships  to  it  for  a  voyage  to  Africa.^^ 
Later,  he  also  ordered  several  additional  royal  vessels  com- 
manded by  Sir  Eobert  Holmes  to  accompany  these  ships. 
The  preparation  for  the  departure  of  the  fleet  was  short  and 
remained  a  close  secret  with  the  officials  immediately  con- 
cerned. 

The  king  instructed  Holmes  to  protect  the  company's 
agents,  ships,  goods,  and  factories  from  all  injury;  and  to 
secure  a  free  trade  with  the  natives.  Also,  he  declared,  ^'If 
(upon  consulta'°''  with  such  command'^  as  are  there  pres- 
ent) you  judge  yorself  strong  enough  to  maintaine  the  right 
of  his  Ma"^'^  subjects  by  force,  you  are  to  do  it,  and  to  kill, 
sink,  take,  or  destroy  such  as  oppose  you,  &  to  send  home 
such  shipps  as  you  shall  so  take. ' '  If  the  two  ships  ^  ^  Golden 
Lyon''  and  * ^ Christiana, "  the  first  of  which  was  the  chief 
assailant  of  the  company's  ships  ^^ Charles"  and  *' James" 
in  November,  1662,  were  encountered.  Holmes  was  instructed 
to  seize  them.  All  other  ships  which  had  committed  such 
injuries  on  the  vessels  of  the  Eoyal  Company^ ^  ^ere  like- 
wise to  be  seized  and  taken  to  England.  On  his  arrival  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Gambia  Eiver  in  January,  1664,  Holmes 
discovered  that  since  his  visit  in  1661  the  relations  of  the 
Dutch  and  English  had  been  anything  but  friendly.  The 
English  commander  on  Charles  Island  had  given  Petro  Jus- 
tobaque  and  other  Dutch  factors  from  Cape  Verde  permis- 
sion to  trade  up  and  down  the  river.  Holmes  heard  that 
they  had  endeavored  to  stir  up  the  native  king  of  Barra 
against  the  English  in  December,  1661.^^    On  the  21st  of 

60  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  den  Eaadpensionaris, 
Cunaeus  to  DeWitt,  November  2,  1663  (N.  S.). 

61  C.  S.  P.,  Ool.,  1661-1668,  p.  159,  warrant  to  duke  of  York,  Sept.  5,  1663. 

62  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Cbarles  II,  114,  f .  53.  These  instructions  are  not  pre- 
Berved  in  tbeir  complete  form. 

63  C.  O.  1:  16,  f.  157,  oath  of  WiUiam  Quick  and  others  at  Charles  Island, 
June  1,  1662. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Afeica  43 

June,  1662,  Justobaque  with  a  ship  again  appeared  on  the 
Gambia.  In  order  to  compel  him  to  recognize  the  English 
rights  on  the  river,  the  English  commander  at  James  Island 
fired  at  the  ship.  The  Dutch  ship  paid  no  heed  to  the  de- 
mand of  the  English  and  returned  the  fire  until  it  was  a  safe 
distance  away.  A  few  days  later  as  the  Dutch  were  return- 
ing to  Cape  Verde  the  English  shot  away  the  main  mast  of 
their  ship,  but  Justobaque  managed  to  escape.^* 

Although  these  incidents  had  happened  more  than  a 
year  and  a  half  before  Holmes'  arrival  at  James  Island,  he 
was  incensed  at  the  actions  of  the  Dutch.  When  it  was  re- 
ported to  him  that  a  large  Dutch  vessel  had  arrived  at  Cape 
Verde,  he  assumed  that  it  was  the  '^Golden  Lyon''  which 
had  sailed  from  Holland  about  the  same  time  as  he  had  de- 
parted from  England.  Several  English  ships  were  expected 
on  the  Gambia  and  for  fear  of  their  capture  by  the  ^^  Gol- 
den Lyon"  Holmes  sailed  at  once  for  Cape  Verde,  where, 
according  to  his  statement,  he  was  fired  upon  by  the  Dutch 
without  any  provocation.  Holmes  returned  the  fire,  and 
after  suffering  some  damage  withdrew  from  the  attack. 
On  the  following  morning  he  was  surprised,  he  declared, 
to  see  that  the  Dutch  had  hung  out  a  white  flag  and  were 
sending  a  boat  to  him  offering  to  surrender  the  fort.  He 
called  a  council  which,  after  considering  the  former  hazards 
of  the  English  trade  on  the  Gambia,  decided  ^Hhat  the 
better  to  protect  our  trade  for  a  tyme  and  sooner  to  bring 
in  Hollander's  West  India  Comp*  to  adjust  our  nation's 
damages  sustained  by  them,  and  to  that  end  we  accepted  the 
surrender  of  that  place.  "^^ 

Holmes'  explanation  of  the  taking  of  Cape  Verde,  al- 
though simple  and  direct,  is  probably  incomplete.  His 
whole  career  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  who  was  likely 

6*0.  O.  1:  18,  f.  154,  deposition  of  Stephen  Ustick,  June  7,  1664;  S.  P., 
Dom.,  Charles  II,  114,  ff.  147,  148. 

«5S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  114,  f.  148,  Holmes'  narrative.  After  taking 
the  island  Holmes  sent  for  as  many  men  as  could  be  spared  by  the  Royal  Com- 
pany's factors  on  the  Gambia.  Accordingly  they  took  possession  of  it  in  the 
name  of  the  company.     C.  O.  1:  18,  f.  24. 


44  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventueers 

to  take  the  initiative,  so  that  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn 
from  the  depositions  of  various  Dutchmen  that,  previous  to 
the  battle  of  Cape  Verde,  Holmes  had  seized  two  Dutch 
vessels,  and  that,  after  receiving  an  unfavorable  reply  to  his 
demand  to  surrender.  Holmes  attacked  the  fort  at  Cape 
Verde,  which  capitulated  together  with  several  Dutch 
vessels.^^ 

From  the  conflicting  statements  made  by  the  Dutch  and 
the  English  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  truth  regarding 
the  events  immediately  preceding  the  attack  on  Cape  Verde, 
but  the  fact  remains  that  Holmes  had  obtained  a  number 
of  Dutch  vessels  and  was  master  of  one  of  their  most  im- 
portant forts  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  Since  he  had  dis- 
covered the  ease  with  which  the  Dutch  possessions  could 
be  seized.  Holmes  next  set  out  down  the  coast  toward  El- 
mina.  On  the  way  he  despoiled  the  Dutch  factory  at  Sestos, 
on  the  pretext  that  at  that  place  the  Dutch  had  stirred  up 
the  natives  against  the  English.^'^  Shortly  afterwards,  he 
encountered  and  captured  the  ^^ Golden  Lyon*'  which  had 
added  to  its  notorious  career  by  preventing  the  **Mary,''  a 
ship  belonging  to  the  Royal  Adventurers,  from  trading  on 
the  Gold  Coast  in  March,  1663.^^  Finally  he  seized  the 
Dutch  factory  at  Anta,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  commanded 
by  the  former  captain  of  the  ^* Christiana,''  one  of  the 
Dutch  ships  designated  for  seizure  in  the  king's  in- 
structions.^^ 

Before  leaving  the  Gambia,  Holmes  had  been  apprised 
of  what  had  taken  place  on  the  Gold  Coast  since  the  Dutch 
had  captured  Cape  Corse  in  June,  1663.  After  the  Dutch 
had  taken  possession  of  this  fortress  General  Valckenburg 
despatched  a  very  strong  protest  to  the  chief  English  fac- 
tory at  Kormentine,  in  which  he  maintained  that  the  Dutch 

66  Aitzema,  XI,  294,  deposition  of  Andries  C.  Vertholen,  June  9,  1664  (N. 
S.) ;  Lias,  West  Indian,  1658  tot  1665,  depositions,  June  19  and  July  19, 
1664   (N.  S.). 

67  C.  O.  1 :  18,  f .  90,  resolution  of  the  council  of  war  on  board  the  Jersey, 
April  9,  1664. 

68  Loketkas,  Staten  Generaal,  Engeland,  deposition  of  John  Denn,  com- 
mander of  the  ship  Mary,  December  3,  1663  (O.  S.)- 

«9S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  114,  f.  149,  Holmes'  narrative. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  45 

had  a  right  to  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  whole  Gold 
Coast  by  reason  of  their  conquest  of  the  Portuguese.  He 
required  the  English  to  leave  the  lodge  which  they  had  re- 
cently built  at  Tacorary  and  demanded  that  they  refrain 
from  all  trade  on  the  Gold  Coast.  He  even  had  the  temerity 
to  claim  that  the  English  had  injured  the  Dutch  trade  at 
Cape  Corse  and  Tacorary  to  the  extent  of  sixty  marks  of 
gold  per  month,  and  that  the  Dutch  had  lost  one  thousand 
marks  on  account  of  the  interference  of  English  ships  such 
as  the  ^'Charles''  and  the  ' ^ James. ''"^^ 

In  answer  to  Valckenburg's  sweeping  assertions  Francis 
Selwin,  the  English  chief  at  Kormentine,  and  John  Stoakes, 
commander  of  one  of  the  English  ships,  replied  that  the 
English  had  more  right  to  Cape  Corse  and  other  places  on 
the  Gold  Coast  than  the  Dutch,  because  they  had  first  settled 
and  fortified  Cape  Corse  with  the  consent  of  the  natives  in 
1649."^^  As  a  further  indication  that  they  were  not  intimi- 
dated by  the  hostile  attitude  of  Valckenburg  the  English 
commenced  to  build  another  factory  at  Anashan  in  the 
Fantin  region.  In  September,  1663,  this  brought  forth  an- 
other vigorous  protest  from  Valckenburg,  who  declared  that 
he  would  not  tolerate  the  continuance  of  this  factory.^^ 
By  way  of  enforcing  these  threats  the  Dutch  prevented  the 
** Sampson,''  another  ship  belonging  to  the  Eoyal  Adven- 
turers, from  engaging  in  any  trade  at  the  factory  of  Ko- 
menda."^^  Thereupon  Stoakes  declared  that,  although  the 
English  greatly  desired  to  live  in  peace  with  the  Dutch, 
they  would  not  under  any  circumstances  abandon  their  fac- 
tory at  Anashan."^^ 

TOS.  p.,  Holland,  176,  ff..  118^123,  June  7,  1663  (N.  S.).  A  mark  of  gold 
was  supposed  to  be  worth  about  £28.  16s. 

71  Index  op  het  Eegister  der  Contracten,  letters  dated  June  13,  14,  1663. 
1663. 

72  S.  P.,  Holland,  167,  ff.  258-260,  September  12,  1663.  This  protest 
with  that  of  Valckenburg  of  June  7,  1663,  was  sent  to  England,  where  both 
were  regarded  as  very  important. 

73  C.  O.  1 :  17,  ff.  153,  154,  Mr.  Brett  to  the  Royal  Company,  August  31, 
1663;  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  Generaal,  Down- 
ing to  S.  G.,  September  15,  1664  (O.  S,). 

7*  Index  op  het  Register  der  Contracten,  September  17,  1663. 


46  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

At  this  time  the  English  had  factories  and  settlements  at 
Kormentine,  Komenda,  Tacorary,  Anto,  Anashan,  Ardra, 
and  Wiamba.  The  forts  and  lodges  of  the  two  companies 
were  all  located  within  a  few  miles  of  one  another  and  for 
either  company  to  increase  the  number  of  its  settlements 
only  made  the  occasions  of  friction  between  them  more 
numerous."^^  It  seemed  that  whichever  company  was  able 
to  overcome  the  other  wonld  be  sure  to  do  so.  It  was  under 
these  circumstances  that  Sir  Eobert  Holmes  made  his  ap- 
pearance on  the  Gold  Coast.  The  fact  that  the  Dutch  had 
laid  claim  to  the  whole  Gold  Coast  was  sufficient  excuse  for 
his  interference,  although,  if  we  may  believe  the  Dutch  ver- 
sion, Holmes  exceeded  their  claims  by  reasserting  the  Eng- 
lish right  to  the  whole  of  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  as  he  had 
done  at  Cape  Verde  in  1661.'^^ 

Be  this  as  it  may,  according  to  Holmes'  account.  Cap- 
tain Cubitt  of  the  Eoyal  Company  endeavored  to  induce 
Valckenburg  to  come  to  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
troubles  on  the  Gold  Coast.  Holmes  expected  that  his  pre- 
vious seizures  would  induce  such  a  settlement,  but  Valcken- 
burg obstinately  refused  Holmes'  demand  to  evacuate  Cape 
Corse.*^^  Since  he  had  failed  to  intimidate  the  Dutch, 
Holmes  sailed  to  Cape  Corse  where  he  visited  the  Danish 
fort  of  Fredericksburg.  The  Dutch  fired  at  him  from  Cape 
Corse,  an  act  which  Holmes  regarded  as  the  beginning  of 
war."^^    He  called  a  council  of  officers  and  factors  of  the 

75  C.  O.  1:17,  ff.  153,  154,  contains  a  number  of  extracts  of  letters  from 
factors  of  the  Eoyal  Company  to  the  company  dated  from  June  to  September, 
1663.  They  mention  many  other  conflicts  with  the  Dutch,  including  the  charge 
that  the  Dutch  had  hired  the  natives  to  attack  the  fort  at  Kormentine. 

76Aitzema,  XI,  295,  deposition  of  Andries  C.  Vertholen,  June  9,  1664 
(N.  S.). 

77  C.  O.  1 :  18,  f .  39,  order  of  the  council  of  war  held  on  board  the  Jersey, 
May  7,  1664. 

78  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  114,  ff.  51,  52,  Holmes'  examination.  In  his 
exiamination  before  the  Privy  Council  Holmes  asserted  that  in  one  of  the  ships 
captured  from  the  Dutch,  orders  had  been  found  from  the  States  General  com- 
manding the  Dutch  factors  to  seize  the  English  fort  at  Kormentine.  There 
is  no  evidence  to  support  this  assertion  and  the  States  General  afterwards 
characterized  the  statement  as  "an  errand  invention  &  a  fowle  lye."  S.  P., 
Holland,  181,  f.  10. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Afeica  47 

Eoyal  Company  on  May  7,  1664,  where,  after  considering 
^^theire  (the  Dutch)  unjust  possessing  of  that  very  castle 
of  Cape  Coast  indubitably  ours,  .  .  .  wee  then  resolved  att 
that  councell  .  .  .  for  the  better  securitye  of  that  trade,  our 
interest  in  that  countrye,  and  to  regaine  our  nacion's  rights, 
to  reduce  that  castle  of  Cape  Coast  w'^^  accordingly  suc- 
ceeded. '  ^'^^  On  pretexts  of  much  the  same  character  Holmes 
seized  the  Dutch  factories  of  Agga  and  Anamabo,  together 
with  several  ships.  By  this  time  the  Dutch  were  stripped 
of  all  their  settlements  on  the  African  coast  except  the  main 
fortress  of  Elmina.  In  finishing  his  account  of  the  expedi- 
tion Holmes  blandly  remarked,  ^^I  hope  I  have  nott  ex- 
ceeded my  instructions,  they  being  to  concerve  our 
comerce.'' 

Since  it  is  not  essential  to  follow  Holmes  across  the  At- 
lantic to  New  Amsterdam  one  may  return  to  the  negotia- 
tions which  were  proceeding  in  Europe  subsequent  to  his 
departure  from  England.  So  closely  had  the  secret  of 
Holmes'  expedition  to  Africa  been  guarded  that  it  is  even 
doubtful  if  Sir  George  Downing  at  The  Hague  was  aware  of 
it.^^  As  far  as  the  purpose  of  the  voyage  was  concerned 
nothing  could  have  been  nearer  the  advice  which  he  had 
been  urging  for  months.  Moreover,  Downing  was  not  alone 
in  his  opinion  that  negotiation  regarding  affairs  in  Africa 
would  be  fruitless.  The  Danish  resident  at  The  Hague, 
Carisius,  who  was  pressing  the  Danish  claims  for  the  pos- 
session of  Cape  Corse,  confessed  to  Downing  that  nothing 
could  be  obtained  from  the  Dutch  unless  it  was  **  attended 
with  some  thing  that  was  reall  &  did  bite. '  '^^  Since  this  was 
the  case  Downing  pointed  out  that  the  Danish  fort  at  Fred- 
ericksburg would  probably  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch. 
To  avoid  this  misfortune  he  advised  the  Eoyal  Company 

79  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  114,  ff.  150,  151,  Holmes'  account;  C.  O.  1:  18, 
f.  39,  order  of  the  council  of  war  held  on  board  the  Jersey,  May  7,  1664. 

80  S.  P.,  Holland,  174,  f.  32,  Downing  to  Bennet,  January  10,  1664/5  (O. 
S.).  This  letter,  written  over  a  year  later,  shows  that  Downing'  was  not  ac- 
quainted with  Holmes'  instructions. 

81  Lister,  Thomas  Henry,  Life  and  Administration  of  Edward,  first  Earl 
of  Clarendon,  III,  259,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  November  6,  1663  (O.  S.). 


48  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

to  induce  the  Danes  to  transfer  Fredericksburg  to  it,  grant- 
ing them  in  return  a  free  commerce  at  that  place.  As  the 
Royal  Company  did  not  see  fit  to  follow  this  suggestions^ 
Downing  began  to  form  other  plans.  In  order  that  Carisius 
might  continue  to  worry  the  Dutch  with  his  claims  Downing 
submitted  a  memorial  to  the  States  General  protesting 
against  the  Dutch  treatment  of  the  Danes  in  Guinea.^^  In- 
deed he  was  so  friendly  toward  the  Danish  pretensions  that 
the  king  of  Denmark  sent  him  a  special  letter  thanking  him 
for  his  services.^* 

In  the  main,  however.  Downing  was  persistently  urging 
the  Dutch  to  make  a  settlement  of  the  cases  of  the  Royal 
Company's  two  ships,  the  *^ Charles''  and  the  ^^  James,"  and 
of  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  blockade  the  Gold  Coast  on  the 
pretext  of  war  with  the  natives.  In  December,  1663,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  West  India  Company,  the  States  General 
maintained  that  only  a  few  ships  were  necessary  to  blockade 
the  small  native  states  on  the  Gold  Coast,  since  in  each  case 
there  were  but  one  or  two  outlets  to  the  sea.^^  On  Febru- 
ary 1,  1664,  Downing  obtained  a  conference  with  DeWitt 
and  the  representatives  of  the  States  General  and  the  West 
India  Company.  The  company's  representatives  boldly 
admitted  that  they  had  hindered  the  English  ships  from 
trading  at  Komenda  and  Cape  Corse,  because  the  natives 
had  burned  their  factory  at  the  former  place  and  had  seized 
their  fortress  at  Cape  Corse.  This  irritating  assumption 
of  their  ownership  of  Cape  Corse  aroused  Downing.  So 
far,  he  had  contented  himself  in  supporting  the  Danish  and 
even  the  Swedish  claims  to  Cape  Corse.  Now,  notwith- 
standing the  inconsistency  of  his  position,  he  remarked 
that,  if  it  was  a  question  of  the  ownership  of  Cape  Corse, 
the  English  could  show  more  rights  to  the  place  than  any 

82  S.  P.,  Holland,  168,  f.  230,  Downing  to  Bennet,  December  18,  1663. 
ssciar.   St.  Paps.,  107,  f.   101,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  February  8,  1663/4 
(O.  S.). 

84  Add.  MSS.,  22,920,  f.  26,  Schested  to  Downing,  February  10,  1664; 
S.  P.,  Denmark,  17,  f.  150,  Frederick  III  to  Schested,  December  15,  1663. 

85  Loketkas,  Staten  Generaal,  Engeland,  W.  I.  C.  to  S.  G.,  read  December 
1,  1663  (N.  S.) ;  ibid.,  S.  G.  to  Downing,  December,  1663. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  49 

one,  since  they  had  been  the  first  to  settle  it  and  to  trade 
there ;  and  that,  even  if  the  Dutch  were  in  possession  of  it, 
the  English  still  had  a  right  to  trade  to  the  Danish  fort  of 
Fredericksburg,  which  was  located  in  the  same  harbor.^® 

When  the  discussion  turned  on  the  requirements  of  an 
effective  blockade  the  Dutch  advocate  stoutly  maintained 
that  ^4t  is  nott  for  any  other  to  prescribe  how  and  in  what 
manner  the  company  shall  proceed  to  retake  their  places, 
that  if  they  think  that  the  riding  with  a  few  shipps  before 
a  place  and  that  att  certaine  times  onely  whereby  to  hinder 
other  nations  from  trading  with  it,  be  a  sufficient  meanes 
for  the  retaking  thereof,  they  have  no  reason  to  be  att 
further  charge  or  trouble.''  He  further  declared  that  n 
certain  sickness  in  that  region,  known  as  *^ Serenes,'' 
caused  by  the  falling  dew,  made  it  impossible  for  Euro- 
peans to  engage  in  a  blockade  by  land,  and  therefore  **in 
this  case  itt  was  to  be  counted  sufficient  and  to  be  called  a 
besieging,  though  the  place  were  onely  blocked  up  by 
sea."^^  Downing  scoffed  at  this  as  an  unheard  of  theory 
and  asked  what  would  happen  if  the  Eoyal  Company  insti- 
tuted blockades  of  this  character  and  pretended  ** Serenes" 
whenever  it  seemed  convenient.  With  such  a  display  of 
feeling  it  is  no  wonder  little  could  be  done  toward  adjust- 
ing the  difficulties.  DeWitt  suggested  a  new  treaty  for  the 
regulation  of  such  affairs  both  in  Europe  and  abroad. 
Downing  flatly  refused  to  consider  such  a  proposition  if  it 
was  meant  thereby  to  dispose  of  the  cases  of  the  *^ Charles" 
and  the  ^^ James."  He  remained  firm  in  his  demand  for 
reparation  for  these  two  ships.^^  A  few  days  after  this 
conference  Downing  learned  of  the  misfortunes  which  had 
befallen  the  Eoyal  Company's  ship,  the  ^*Mary,"  during 
the  previous  year.  On  February  16,  he  apprised  the  States 
General  of  this  additional  cause  for  complaint  and  de- 

86  S.  P.,  Holland,  169,  ff.  120,  121,  Downing  to  (Bennet),  February  12, 
1663/4  (O.  S.). 
sTihid.,  f.  121. 
SB  Ibid.,  f£.  122,  124. 


50  The  Company  of  Eoyaij  Adventurers 

manded   satisfaction   as   in   the   case   of   the    other   two 
vessels. ^^ 

If  Downing  was  becoming  exasperated,  the  people  in 
England  were  scarcely  less  so  when  they  heard  of  the 
troubles  of  the  ^'Mary''  and  other  similar  occurrences. 
Secretary  Cunaeus  declared  that  the  animosity  in  England 
towards  Holland  was  growing  exceedingly  among  the  com- 
mon people.  Led  by  the  duke  of  York,  governor  of  the 
Eoyal  Company,  the  courtiers  had  also  become  exceedingly 
indignant  at  the  treatment  accorded  the  company's  ships 
and  factories  in  Af rica.^^  One  of  Valckenburg  's  statements 
regarding  the  Dutch  ownership  of  the  Gold  Coast  had  been 
circulated  on  the  Eoyal  Exchange,  where  it  became  the 
chief  topic  of  conversation.  Indeed  so  great  was  the  sen- 
sation it  stirred  up  that  Samuel  Pepys  declared  on  April  7, 
1664,  that  everybody  was  expecting  a  war.^^  On  the  21st 
of  April  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  resolved 
that  the  damages  inflicted  by  the  Dutch  in  India,  Africa, 
and  elsewhere  constituted  a  very  great  obstruction  to  Eng- 
lish trade.  They,  therefore,  petitioned  the  king  for  re- 
dress for  these  various  injuries,  and  promised  to  support 
any  action  he  took  with  their  lives  and  fortunes. 

At  last  the  Dutch  realized  that  the  African  situation 
was  becoming  serious,  and  Downing  therefore  found  it 
somewhat  easier  to  bring  them  to  a  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject. DeWitt  proposed  that  the  case  of  the  three  Eoyal 
Company's  ships  as  well  as  that  of  two  East  India  ships, 
the  *^Bona  Esperanza''  and  the  **  Henry  Bonaventure,'* 
should  be  included  in  the  list  of  damages  provided  for  by 
the  treaty  of  September,  1662.  Downing  absolutely  refused 
to  consider  such  a  makeshift  on  the  ground  that  the  ships 
of  the  Eoyal  Company  had  been  injured  after  the  treaty 
had  been  signed,  and  therefore  in  accordance  with  its  pro- 
se S.  p.  Holland,  169,  f.  132,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  February  16,  1663/4  (O.  S.). 
90  Brieven  van  de  Amhassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  van  H.  en  W.  F., 
Cunaeus  to  fDeWitt,  March  11/21,  1664. 

»i  Pepys,  Diary,  IV,  103 ;  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan 
de  Staten  van  H.  en  W.  P.,  Cunaeus  to  ?DeWitt  (April  8/18,  1664,  N.  S.). 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Aekica  61 

visions  these  losses  should  be  submitted  to  the  Netherlands 
for  compensation.^^ 

Since  he  had  failed  to  induce  Downing  to  permit  the 
three  ships  to  be  included  in  the  list  of  damages,  DeWitt 
had  exhausted  the  last  means  of  delay.  On  May  6,  1664, 
Downing  announced  in  letters  to  Bennet  and  Clarendon 
that  DeWitt  had  at  last  consented  to  accommodate  the  mat- 
ter of  the  three  ships.  He  was  willing,  moreover,  to  enter 
into  an  agreement,  for  the  prevention  of  all  such  future 
troubles,  along  the  lines  which  Downing  had  laid  down. 
Regarding  the  two  East  India  ships,  however,  whose  case 
was  quite  different  from  those  of  the  Eoyal  Company, 
DeWitt  would  not  alter  his  stubborn  refusal  of  compensa- 
tion. Downing  was  intent  on  gaining  a  complete  victory  and 
at  once  rejoined  that  no  new  commercial  regulations  could 
be  considered  until  entire  satisfaction  had  been  rendered 
for  the  damages  which  the  Dutch  had  committed.^ ^ 

Although  an  attempt  was  made  to  suppress  the  first 
tidings  of  Holmes'  actions  on  the  Gambia,  the  rumor  of 
them  soon  spread.  It  was  not  long  until  it  was  well  known 
in  London  and  Amsterdam  that  he  had  taken  Cape  Verde 
and  captured  several  Dutch  vessels.^^  The  West  India 
Company  bitterly  accused  the  English  of  having  covered 
their  designs  in  Africa  with  a  cloak  of  complaints  regard- 
ing the  Royal  Company's  ships.  The  company  reminded 
the  States  General  that  this  was  the  same  Holmes  who,  in 
1661,  had  set  up  a  claim  to  the  whole  coast  and  who  was  to 
have  been  exemplarily  punished  on  his  return  by  the  king 
of  England.  Since  it  was  evident  that  all  the  Dutch  fac- 
tories and  forts  in  Guinea  were  in  danger  of  capture  from 
Holmes,  the  company  asked  the  States  General  for  some 

»2  aar.  St.  Paps.,  107,  f.  147,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  April  1,  1664  (0.  S.)  j 
Dumont,  Corps  Universel  Diplomatique,  VI,  part  2,  p.  424,  article  XIV. 

83  S.  P.,  Holland,  170,  ff.  16-18,  Downing  to  Bennet,  May  6,  1664  (O.  S.) ; 
Clar.  St.  Paps.,  107,  ff.  195,  196,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  May  6,  1664  (O.  S.). 

9*  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  van  H.  en  W.  F., 
Cunaeua  to  fDeWitt,  May  6/16,  1664;  Secretekas,  Engeland,  no.  123,  Cunaeus 
to  the  directors  of  W.  I.  C,  May  6/16,  1664. 


52  The  Company  of  Hoyal  Adventurers 

vessels  of  war  which,  should  be  sent  to  the  African  coast  for 
the  protection  of  its  property.^^ 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  Dutch  to  seek  compensation 
and  restitution  of  their  property.  Since  Downing  was  a 
very  exasperating  man  with  whom  to  deal  they  were  un- 
doubtedly pleased  when  toward  the  end  of  May,  1664,  he 
suddenly  returned  to  England.^^  The  Dutch,  therefore, 
decided  to  send  VanGogh  to  London,  with  the  hope  that  he 
could  obtain  more  satisfactory  results  there  than  had  ever 
been  possible  with  Downing  at  The  Hague.  VanGogh  was 
instructed  to  seek  for  the  restitution  of  the  West  India 
Company's  property;  to  remind  the  king  of  the  unfulfilled 
promises  which  he  had  made  regarding  Holmes  and  the 
voyage  of  1661;^^  and  to  seek  for  new  commercial  regula- 
tions which  would  prevent  future  trouble  on  the  African 
coast.^^ 

Very  soon  after  his  arrival  in  England  VanGogh  gained 
an  audience  with  the  king  who,  in  reply  to  his  demands, 
answered  that  as  yet  his  knowledge  of  the  Holmes'  affair 
was  very  imperfect;  that  he  had  not  given  Holmes  orders 
to  seize  Cape  Verde ;  and  that  in  case  he  had  exceeded  his 
instructions  he  would  be  punished  upon  his  return,  accord- 
ing to  the  exigency  of  the  case.^^  Such  a  reply  sounded 
too  much  like  the  king's  former  promise  of  August  14, 1661, 
to  satisfy  DeWitt.  He  instructed  VanGogh  to  insist  that 
his  Majesty  make  these  promises  in  writing.^^^  VanGogh 
answered  DeWitt  that  it  was  hopeless  to  think  of  induc- 
ing the  English  to  return  Cape  Verde,  in  view  of  the  prep- 
arations then  in  progress  for  carrying  on  trade  to  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.    He  declared  that  already  they  were  boast- 

»8  Secretekas,  Engeland,  no.  123,  W.  I.  C.  to  S.  G.,  May  23,  1664  (N.  S.). 

»«S.  P.,  Holland,  173,  f.  129,  Downing  to  Bennet,  December  30,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

97Kesolution  of  S.  G.,  June  13,  1664  (N.  S.). 

oslhid.,  June  5,  1664  (N.  S.). 

o»  S.  P.,  Holland,  171,  f .  174,  VanGogh  to  S.  G.,  June  24/July  4,  1664. 

100  DeWitt,  Brieven  (DeWitt,  Johan,  Brieven,  geschreven  ende  gewisselt 
tusschen  den  Beer  Johan  de  Witt  ende  gevolmaghtigden) ,  IV,  311,  DeWitt  to 
VanGogh,  July  11,  1664  (N.  S.). 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  53 

ing  in  London  that  a  contract  was  to  be  made  with  the 
Spanish  for  the  delivery  of  4,000  slaves  per  annum.^^^  As 
early  as  the  middle  of  June  the  Eoyal  Company  had  eight 
ships  loading  in  London  with  goods  worth  50,000  pounds 
jdestined  for  the  Guinea  coast.^^^ 

In  midsummer,  1664,  Andries  C.  Vertholen  and  other 
Dutchmen,  whom  Holmes  had  carried  from  Cape  Verde  to 
the  Gold  Coast,  returned  to  Holland,  where  they  reported 
at  length  Holmes '  actions  at  Cape  Verde  and  on  the  way  to 
the  Gold  Coast.1^3  These  details  did  not  tend  to  DeWitt^s 
peace  of  mind.  Hence  it  is  no  wonder,  upon  Downing 's 
return  to  Holland,  that  the  two  men  ^^fell  very  hard  upon 
the  busines  of  Cabo  Verde '  ^  in  their  very  first  conversation. 
As  he  had  instructed  VanGogh  to  do,  so  DeWitt  demanded 
of  Downing  that  the  English  king  make  a  written  promise 
that  no  more  hostilities  would  be  committed  on  the  Guinea 
Coast,  or  the  Dutch  would  be  in  duty  bound  to  assist  their 
company.  Downing,  who  now  felt  the  advantage  which 
the  success  of  Holmes'  expedition  gave  him,  replied  to 
DeWitt  as  follows:  ^^I  must  say,''  that  the  West  India 
Company  has  ^^ever  since  his  Maj*^®'^  return  played  the 
devills  &  pirats,  worse  th""  Argiers,  taken  20  English  ships, 
hindered  others,  putt  out  a  declaration  whereby  they 
claymed  al  the  coast  to  thmselves;  &  was  it  lawfull  for 
th"*  so  to  demean  thmselves  &  only  lawfull  for  the  English 
to  suffer,  th'  yet  his  Majty  did  not  intermeddle,  but  only 
the  one  company  against  the  other,  &  no  wonder  if  at  last 
the  English  did  stirr  a  little;  &  th^  Holms  was  the  com- 
panye's  serv*  &  th*  should  his  Maj*^  have  given  or  lent 
th™  an  old  ship  or  two,  yet  he  had  nothing  to  doe  in  the 
ordering  their  designe. ' '    Furthermore,  he  declared  that  if 

101  Brieven  v&n  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Stolen  van  E.  en 
W.  F.,  VanGogh  to  DeWitt,  July  15/25,  1664. 

102  P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  4:  122;  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  99,  f.  170,  petition 
of  the  Eoyal  Company  for  a  convoy  for  its  ships.  It  was  also  reported  that  the 
duke  of  York  was  fitting  out  a  frigate  at  his  own  expense  to  send  to  Guinea. 
C.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  1663-1664,  p.  264,  newsletter,  September  2,   ?1663. 

103  s.  P.,  Holland,  171,  f.  238,  W.  I.  C.  to  S.  G.,  July  21,  1664  (N.  S.). 


54  The  Company  of  Eoyal.  Adventurers 

the  Dutch  took  it  upon  themselves  to  assist  the  West  India 
Company  *'his  Maj*^  would  find  himself  equally  obliged  to 
assist  his  company. ''^^^ 

To  every  one  it  now  seemed  as  if  an  open  conflict  must 
come.  Toward  the  last  of  July,  Pepys  declared  that  all 
the  talk  was  of  a  Dutch  war/^^  although  even  Coventry,  a 
director  of  the  Eoyal  Company,  admitted  that  there  was 
little  real  cause  for  it  and  that  the  damage  done  to  the  com- 
pany, which  had  brought  on  Holmes'  expedition,  did  not 
exceed  the  paltry  sum  of  two  or  three  hundred  pounds.^ ^^ 
In  Holland,  also,  the  disposition  toward  war  was  increased 
by  the  realization  that  the  next  report  from  Holmes  might 
bring  news  of  the  total  loss  of  the  Gold  Coast,  including  the 
main  fortress  of  Elmina.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
king's  promise  to  punish  Holmes  according  to  the  exigency 
of  the  case  meant  little  or  nothing.  The  maritime  prov- 
inces, especially  Holland,  were  determined  to  assist  the 
West  India  Company  against  English,  aggression  in  Africa. 

When  Downing  discussed  the  situation  with  DeWitt, 
however,  he  was  surprised  to  hear  him  still  express  the 
possibility  of  giving  satisfaction  for  the  seizure  of  the 
Eoyal  Company's  ships,  and  not  ^^so  hott"  for  sending  a 
fleet  immediately  to  Gruinea  as  he  had  been  at  first.^^^  Even 
Downing  was  for  the  time  being  deceived.  His  spy,  who 
was  well  within  DeWitt 's  immediate  circle,  for  once  was 
not  on  duty  to  give  his  usual  faithful  report  to  his  bene- 
factor. DeWitt  was  accustomed  to  resort  to  the  same 
trickery  and  deceitful  diplomacy  that  was  so  character- 
istic of  Downing.  Indeed  it  would  be  difficult  to  decide 
which  of  these  two  men  was  the  greater  master  of  this  ques- 
tionable art.  The  English  had  sent  Holmes  to  Africa  to- 
tally unknown  to  the  Dutch  and  had  taken  half  the  coast 

io4Clar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  ff.  39^1,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  July  22,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

106  Pepys,  Diary,  IV,  202. 

106  lUd.,  42,  143. 

107  Clar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  ff.  48,  49,  Downing  to  Qarendan,  July  29,  1664 
(O.  S.). 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  55 

from  them  before  they  were  even  aware  of  the  expedition. 
It  is  little  wonder  then  that  the  idea  occurred  to  DeWitt  to 
retaliate  in  kind  on  the  English  and  to  keep  his  plans  a  pro- 
found secret. 

In  1661  the  Dutch  had  sent  a  fleet  under  Admiral  De- 
Kuyter  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  in  conjunction  with  an 
English  squadron  commanded  by  Sir  John  Lawson,  for  the 
purpose  of  punishing  the  Algerian  and  other  pirates  who 
had  been  infesting  Dutch  and  English  commerce.  DeEuyter 
and  Lawson  had  succeeded  in  making  a  number  of  favor- 
able treaties  with  the  pirates,  though  the  task  of  quelling 
them  was  by  no  means  completed.  DeWitt  realized  that  a 
fleet  could  scarcely  be  dispatched  to  Guinea  from  Holland 
without  being  discovered.  Therefore,  he  together  with  six 
of  his  councillors  decided  to  send  secret  orders  to  DeRuyter 
to  sail  at  once  for  the  coast  of  Guinea.  On  account  of  a 
peculiarity  of  the  Dutch  government,  however,  it  was  im- 
possible to  dispatch  these  orders  without  first  securing  a 
resolution  of  the  States  General.  DeWitt  was  well  aware 
that  somehow  these  resolutions  of  the  States  General  usu- 
ally became  known  to  Downing  and  the  English.  He  there- 
fore determined  that,  while  the  States  General  should  pass 
the  order,  he  would  arrange  the  matter  so  that  no  one  would 
know  of  it,  except  those  who  were  already  in  the  plan.  On 
August  11,  1664,  the  secretary  of  the  States  General  read 
the  resolution  very  quickly,  during  which  time  DeWitt  and 
his  six  cohorts  raised  so  much  disturbance  by  loud  conver- 
sation that  no  one  in  the  room  heard  what  was  being 
read.^^^  The  trick  succeeded  admirably.  DeWitt  was  now 
in  possession  of  the  necessary  authority,  and  orders  were 
dispatched  at  once  to  DeRuyter  to  leave  his  post  in  the 
Mediterranean  and  to  sail  for  the  west  coast  of  Africa  with- 
out revealing  his  destination  to  Lawson,  the  English  com- 
mander. He  was  instructed  to  recover  for  the  West  India 
Company  those  places  which  Holmes  had  seized  and 
to  deliver  to  Valckenburg,  the  Dutch  general  on  the  Gold 

108  Brandt,  Gerard,  La  Vie  de  Michel  de  Euiter,  pp.  212-213. 


56  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

Coast,  all  the  effects  of  the  English  which  were  not  neces- 
sary for  the  different  factories  of  the  company.^ ^^ 

In  order  not  to  arouse  Downing 's  suspicions  by  ap- 
parent apathy,  the  Dutch  began  to  prepare  several  ships 
ostensibly  for  Africa.  For  the  purpose  of  misleading 
Downing  still  further  the  Dutch  agreed  to  accept  an 
offer  made  by  the  French  for  mediation  of  the  difficulties. 
DeWitt  still  insisted,  however,  that  a  written  promise  be 
given  him  that  the  forts  and  factories  which  Holmes  had 
seized  on  the  African  coast  would  be  restored  to  the  West 
India  Company.^ ^^  Later,  in  the  same  month  of  August, 
1664,  Downing  submitted  to  the  States  General  the  draft 
of  a  proposed  agreement  for  the  settling  of  future  disputes 
in  the  East  Indies  and  in  Africa.^  ^^  Downing  was  of  the 
opinion  that,  although  the  Dutch  could  never  be  depended 
on  to  keep  such  an  agreement,  it  would  be  a  good  thing  in 
the  East  Indies  because  ^^ye  (the  English)  are  the  weaker 
ther. ' '  In  Africa  the  situation  appeared  different  to  Down- 
ing, for  there  the  English  had  the  advantage.  *^I  hope  in 
the  meantime,'*  he  declared,  ** while  we  are  (negotiating) 
Holmes  will  doe  the  work  ther,"  because  there  ^^ never  will 
be  such  a  opportunity  as  this  to  make  clear  work  in 
Affrica."^^^  A  few  days  later  he  advised  that  everything 
on  the  African  coast  should  be  done  *^so  as  (the)  king  of 
England  may  not  appeare  in  it,  but  only  (the)  R"  Com- 
pany, &  they  takeing  occasion  from  our  affront.  ^'^^^ 
Still  later  he  asserted  that  even  in  Holland  everyone  be- 
lieved that  since  the  king  and  the  Royal  Company  had  gone 
so  far,  they  would  seize  the  entire  African  coast  so  that  the 
whole  affair  might  be  worth  while.^^^ 

108  Brandt,  Vie  de  Buiter,  pp.  213,  214,  217. 

110  S.  P.,  Holland,  171,  ff.  23,  24,  Downing  to  Bennet,  August  4,  1664 
(O.  S.);  iMd.,  ff.  124,  125,  Downing  to  Bennet,  August  26,  1664  (O.  S.). 

111  S.  P.,  Holland,  171,  ff.  119,  120,  Downing  to  S.  G.,  August  25,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

ii2  76{d.,  f.  25,  Downing  to  Bennet,  August  4,  1664  (O.  S.). 
ii3Z6td.,  f.  56,  Downing  to  Bennet,  August  12,  1664  (O.  S.). 
114  aar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  ff.  75,  76,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  August  26,  1664 
(O.  S.). 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Afkica  67 

Although  DeWitt  had  been  successful  in  sending  the 
secret  orders  to  DeEuyter  concerning  his  voyage  to  Guinea, 
he  could  not  long  hope  to  deceive  the  ever-watchful  Down- 
ing. Indeed  with  all  due  respect  to  his  crafty  rival  one  is 
almost  surprised  that  Downing ^s  suspicions  were  not 
aroused  for  more  than  a  month  after  the  commands  were 
despatched.  When  the  possibility  of  DeEuyter 's  having 
been  ordered  to  Africa  dawned  on  Downing,  he  at  once 
demanded  of  DeWitt  where  DeEuyter  was  going  when  he 
left  Cadiz.  Without  hesitation  DeWitt  replied  that  he  had 
returned  to  Algiers  and  Tunis  to  ransom  some  Dutch  peo- 
ple.^ ^5  The  bald  falsehood  disarmed  Downing 's  suspicions 
and,  although  he  advised  that  Sir  John  Lawson  keep  a 
watchful  eye  on  DeEuyter,  he  assured  Bennet  that  the  re- 
port that  the  latter  had  gone  to  Guinea  was  without  f  ounda- 
tion.ii^  The  report  continued  to  be  whispered  about,^^^ 
hpwever,  and  although  two  weeks  later  DeWitt  repeated  his 
falsehood.  Downing  began  to  fear  that  he  was  being  de- 
ceived. He  declared  that  although  he  was  certain  that  the 
States  General  had  given  no  orders  in  the  usual  way  for 
DeEuyter  ^s  departure  to  Guinea,  he  was  very  well  aware 
that  the  Dutch  could  find  means  to  do  those  things  which 
they  deemed  necessary.  The  more  he  considered  the  mat- 
ter, the  more  probable  it  seemed  to  him  that  secret  orders 
had  been  given  to  DeEuyter.  *'I  am  sure  if  I  were  in  their 
case,  I  would  do  it,''  he  finally  declared,  and  therefore  he 
again  advised  Bennet  to  have  Sir  John  Lawson  watch  De- 
Euyter closely.^^^ 

The  news  of  Holmes'  success  at  Cape  Verde  had  stirred 
up  extraordinary  activity  in  the  Eoyal  Company.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1664,  the  company  was  busily  enlisting  factors  and 

115  Lister,  Life  of  Clarendon,  III,  344,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  September 
9,  1664  (O.  S.). 

118  S.  P.,  Holland,  172,  f.  171,  Downing  to  Bennet,  September  9,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

117  Clar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  £.  82,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  September  16,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

118  S.  P.,  Holland,  172,  f.  241,  Downing  to  Bennet,  September  23,  1664 
(0.  S.). 


58  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventueees 

soldiers  for  the  Guinea  coast.  A  number  of  ships,  several 
of  which  belonged  to  the  king,  and  some  of  which  the  com- 
pany hired,  were  being  prepared  for  the  voyage  to 
Guinea.^ ^^  To  add  to  the  company  ^s  bright  prospects,  a 
vessel  from  the  Gold  Coast  arrived  in  England  at  the  end 
of  September,^ 2^  bringing  the  account  of  Holmes'  capture 
of  Cape  Corse  and  other  factories  on  the  African  coast. 
The  Eoyal  Company  now  saw  itself  master  of  West  Africa. 
Pepys  declared  that  the  news  from  Holmes  would  certainly 
make  the  Dutch  quite  ^^mad.^'^^^  It  did  indeed  create  a 
very  great  impression  in  Holland,  where  many  had  believed 
that  Cape  Corse  was  impregnable.  Downing,  of  course, 
rejoiced  exceedingly.  Oftentimes  in  the  past  he  had  sup- 
ported the  Danish  and  Swedish  claims  to  Cape  Corse,  but 
now  he  found  no  difficulty  in  showing  Carisius  and  Apple- 
bome,  the  Danish  and  Swedish  representatives  at  The 
Hague,  that  their  claims  were  as  before,  against  the  Dutch. 
Omitting  to  say  anything  of  the  English  claim  to  Cape 
Corse  Downing  explained  to  them  that  since  the  Dutch  had 
been  in  possession  of  Cape  Corse,  Holmes  had  seized  it 
together  with  other  places  on  account  of  the  numerous  in- 
juries done  to  the  Eoyal  Company.  ^^They  both  replied 
that  they  took  it  so.' '122 

In  London,  VanGogh  lost  no  time  in  obtaining  an  inter- 
view with  Charles  II  concerning  Holmes'  latest  activities. 
Again  the  king  asserted  that  Holmes '  violent  actions  on  the 
African  coast  were  without  his  knowledge,  especially  the 
affair  at  Cape  Verde,  which  place  he  declared  was  of  no  im- 
portance and  not  worth  one  hundred  pounds.^^^    Eegarding 

ii^Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  Generaalf 
VanGogh  to  S.  G.,  September  23/OctolDer  3,  1664. 

120  Pepys,  Diary,  IV,  254 ;  Brieven  van  de  Amhassadors  in  Engeland  aan 
de  Staten  Generaal,  VanGogh  to  S.  G.,  September  30/October  10,  1664. 

121  Pepys,  Diary,  IV,  254. 

122  S.  P.,  Holland,  172,  f.  35,  Downing  to  Bennet,  October  7,  1664  (O.  S.). 

123  Brieven  van  de  Amhassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  van  H.  en 
W.  F.,  VanGogh  to  IDeWitt,  October  3/13,  1664.  A  few  days  after  this  Van- 
Gogh very  much  annoyed  the  king  by  bringing  up  the  Cape  Verde  incident 
again.    The  king  burst  out,  "And  pray,  what  is  Cape  Verde?    A  stinking  place 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  59 

his  responsibility  for  the  capture  of  Cape  Corse  he  re- 
frained from  committing  himself  so  definitely,  but  he  as- 
sured the  Dutch  ambassador  that  Cape  Corse  belonged  to 
the  English;  that  their  claim  to  it  would  be  satisfactorily 
established;  and  that  he  intended  to  preserve  these  new 
acquisitions  by  sending  Prince  Eupert  with  a  fleet  to  the 
coast  of  Africa.^24  Qj^  the  28th  of  October,  after  learning 
of  Holmes'  capture  of  New  Amsterdam,  Charles  II  boldly 
threw  aside  his  reserve  and  declared  that  the  taking  of 
Cape  Corse,  as  well  as  of  New  Amsterdam,  ^^was  done  with 
his  knowledge  &  by  his  order  as  being  a  business  w''^ 
properly  belonged  to  the  English,  that  the  ground  was 
theirs  &  that  they  had  also  built  upon  the  same,  that  the 
same  was  afterwards  taken  from  the  English  by  the  Neth- 
erlands West  India  Comp^,  &  .  .  .  that  the  English  will 
justify  &  demonstrate  their  right  to  all  this. '  '^^s  jf  Holmes ' 
actions  in  Guinea  have  so  far  seemed  very  extraordinary, 
they  can  hardly  be  so  regarded  any  longer  in  view  of  the 
light  which  the  king  himself  threw  over  the  whole  situation 
in  this  remarkable  statement.  To  be  sure  he  had  not  as  yet 
assumed  responsibility  for  the  capture  of  Cape '  Verde. 
However,  his  direct  responsibility  for  the  other  actions  of 
Holmes,  which  were  much  more  important,  makes  it  a  mat- 
ter of  little  consequence  whether  the  capture  of  Cape  Verde 
is  to  be  attributed  to  him  or  not. 

It  may  have  seemed  to  Downing  that  there  was  less  ex- 
cuse for  the  seizure  of  Cape  Verde  than  for  the  other 
places.  At  any  rate  he  held  out  some  hope  to  DeWitt  that 
it  would  be  restored  to  the  Dutch.  This  must  have  been  a 
bitter  sop  to  DeWitt,  who  was  well  aware  that  as  for  Cape 

(using  these  very  words)  :  Is  this  of  such  importance  to  make  so  much  adoe 
about?  As  much  as  I  could  ever  yet  learne  of  it,  it  is  of  noe  use  at  all.*' 
S.  P.,  Holland,  172,  f.  158,  VanGogh  to  ?Euyseh,  October  24,  1664  (N.  S.). 

^^^Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  van  H.  en 
W.  F.,  VanGogh  to  fDeWitt,  October  3/13,  1664. 

125  s.  P.,  Holland,  173,  f.  178,  VanGogh  to  fKuysch,  November  7,  1664 
(N.  S.) ;  DeWitt,  Brieven,  IV,  387,  390,  VanGogh  to  DeWitt,  October  28/No- 
vember  7,  October  31/November  10,  1664. 


60  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

Corse  he  need  entertain  no  such  hope.^^^  There  was  one 
feature  of  the  situation,  however,  which  somewhat  pleased 
DeWitt.^^^  Downing  could  no  longer  maintain  that  the 
troubles  in  Guinea  were  merely  quarrels  between  two  com- 
mercial companies  in  which  the  king  had  no  direct  interest 
or  connection.  DeWitt  would  therefore  not  be  at  a  loss 
when  the  time  came  for  defending  that  action  to  find  numer- 
ous reasons  why  DeRuyter  had  been  sent  to  Africa. 

By  this  time  every  one  in  London  and  Amsterdam  was 
in  a  state  of  extreme  suspense  as  to  whether  or  not  De- 
Ruyter was  on  the  Guinea  coast.  On  the  14th  of  October, 
1664,  news  had  been  received  in  Holland  and  in  England 
from  Cadiz  to  the  effect  that  DeRuyter  intended  to  sail  to 
Guinea  upon  his  departure  from  that  port.^^^  In  Amster- 
dam, encouraged  by  this  vigorous  rumor,  the  stocks  of  the 
West  India  Company  began  to  rise  from  the  low  point 
where  they  had  been  for  some  time.^^^  When  Downing 
chided  DeWitt  about  DeRuyter,  the  latter  told  him,  in  a  ban- 
tering fashion  if  he  believed  the  report,  notwithstand- 
ing what  had  been  said  to  the  contrary,  to  continue  in  the 
belief;  it  could  do  no  harm.^^^  In  London,  the  apprehen- 
sion of  DeRuyter 's  expedition  greatly  checked  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  Royal  Company,  and  caused  the  king  to  post- 
pone Prince  Rupert's  departure  to  the  African  coast. 
VanGogh  reported  the  cry  that  was  heard  everywhere  in 
London,  **  Guinea  is  lost.  What  now  is  it  possible  to  do 
with  the  Dutch. ''^^^     The  Dutch  ambassador,  who  did  not 

126  DeWitt,  Brieven,  IV,  390,  DeWitt  to  VanGogh,  November  14,  1664 
(N.  S.). 

127  Clar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  f .  126,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  November  11,  1664 
(O.  S.). 

128  Ibid.,  f.  1€0,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  October  14,  1664  (O.  S.)  J 
Brieven  van  de  Ambaseadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  Generaal,  October 
14/24,  1664. 

129  Clar.  St.  Paps.,  108,  f.  108,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  October  28,  1664 
(O.  S.);  ibid.,  f.  120,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  November  4,  1664  (O.  S.). 

i30  76tU,  f.  117,  Downing  to  Clarendon,  November  4,  1664  (O.  S.). 
131  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  den   Eaadpensionaris, 
VanGogh  to  DeWitt,  October  17/27,  1664. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  61 

cease  to  haunt  the  king's  chambers  over  Holmes'  seizures, 
found  Charles  II  irritable  and  greatly  displeased  with 
affairs.  When  questioned  as  to  whether  he  would  punish 
Holmes,  the  king  declared  that  Holmes  did  not  need  to  fear 
punishment  at  home,  since  the  Dutch  had  evidently  sent 
forces  to  do  it  themselves.^ ^^ 

The  news  concerning  DeEuyter's  successful  expedition 
to  the  African  coast,  which  arrived  in  England  just  before 
Christmas,  1664,  showed,  as  Pepys  expressed  it,  that  the 
English  had  been  ^'beaten  to  dirt  at  Guinea. ''^^^  Indeed 
DeKuyter's  conquest  of  the  coast  in  the  end  was  as  com- 
plete as  that  of  Holmes.^  ^^  With  one  exception  DeEuyter 
captured  all  the  English  factories  and  forts,  including  Kor- 
mentine,  which  he  delivered  with  their  goods  to  the  agents 
of  the  West  India  Company.  The  English  retained  only 
Cape  Corse,  which,  because  of  its  strong  position  and  the 
loyalty  of  the  natives,  DeEuyter  decided  would  offer  a  suc- 
cessful resistance.^  ^^ 

Up  to  the  time  that  DeEuyter  departed  for  the  African 
coast  it  is  conceivable  that  by  mutual  concessions  the 
troublesome  questions  existing  between  England  and  the 
United  Provinces  might  have  been  amicably  settled.  The 
Dutch,  however,  had  decided  that  this  could  not  be  done 
with  honor  and  advantage  to  themselves,  and  therefore  they 
chose  to  answer  the  warlike  actions  of  Holmes  in  kind. 
When  the  English  learned  of  DeEuyter 's  activities  on  the 
African  coast  the  growing  animosity  between  the  two  coun-  \ 
tries  was  so  greatly  intensified  that  war  was  inevitable. 
The  members  of  the  Eoyal  Company  who  realized  the  grav- 

132  S.  P.,  Holland,  173,  f.  19,  VanGogb  to  fRujsch,  December  5,  1664 
(N.  S.).  The  duke  of  York  was  known  to  be  very  favorable  to  Holmes  at 
the  same  time.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  105,  f.  176,  Coventry  to  fBennet, 
November  27,  1664. 

133  Pepys,  Diary,  IV,  312. 

134  He  arrived  at  Cape  Verde  October  22,  1664,  and  left  the  Gold  Coast 
February  27,  1665. 

135  In  this  account  it  seems  unnecessary  to  give  the  details  of  the  capture 
of  these  places.  They  may  be  found  at  length  in  Brandt,  Vie  de  Euiter,  pp. 
223  to  265. 


62  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

ity  of  the  situation  begged  the  king  to  come  to  the  com- 
pany's assistance.^  ^^     The  king,  who  considered  the  com- 
pany to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  colonial  trade,  and 
who  realized  his  own  intimate  connection  with  its  forma- 
tion, declared  on  January  2,  1665,  that  he  was  resolved  *Ho 
assist,  protect  &  preserve  the  said  company  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  said  trade, ''^^^  a  declaration  which  was  tanta- 
mount to  war. 
j\        The  Anglo-Dutch  war  of  1665-7  was,  therefore,  as  has 
'    long  been  known,  a  war  over  trade  privileges.    Further- 
more, in  the  popular  mind,  it  was  the  dispute  over  trading 
privileges  on  the  West  African  coast  which  ^  ^  became  the  Oc- 
casion, at  least  the  Popular  Pretence  of  the  war  with  Hol- 
land.'^^^^    In  international  disputes  some  facts,  although  of 
minor  importance,  are  often  seized  upon  with  great  vigor 
by  the  contending  parties.    It  is  very  probable  that  both 
England  and  the  United  Provinces  greatly  overestimated 
the  value  of  the  African  forts  and  factories,  but,  at  that 
time,  the  possession  of  them  seemed  very  important.    To 
many  of  these  places  plausible  claims  were  advanced  by 
both  the  English  and  the  Dutch.    There  was  plenty  of  op- 
portunity therefore  for  disputes,  and  the  representatives 
of  the  two  great  commercial  companies  did  not  fail  to 
utilize  it. 

If  the  factors  of  the  two  companies  in  Guinea  found  it 
impossible  to  reconcile  their  differences,  the  same  observa- 
tion may  be  made  concerning  Downing  and  DeWitt  at  The 
Hague.  One  is  not  inclined  to  excuse  the  deceit  of  the  latter 
nor  to  sympathize  with  the  apathetic  neglect  with  which  he 
met  all  English  claims.  On  the  other  hand,  Downing  was 
perhaps  the  match  for  DeWitt  in  cunning  and  his  master 
in  argument.  His  contempt  for  the  Dutch  made  it  distaste- 
ful for  him  to  deal  with  them  without  gaining  a  complete 
victory.    Compromise  is  the  basis  of  most  diplomacy,  but 

136  S.  p.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  110,  f.  19;  Condition  of  Co.,  Jan.  2  (1664/5). 
13 T  p.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  5 :  4. 

188  The  Case  of  the  Boyal  African  Company  of  Engla/nd  and  their  Cred- 
itors, p.  6. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  63 

STich  a  word  was  scarcely  in  Downing 's  vocabulary.  There 
were  men  in  England  who  realized  that  Downing  was  slowly 
but  surely  leading  the  two  countries  into  war.  Clarendon 
reproved  him  for  overzealousness ;  and  Lord  Hollis,  the 
English  ambassador  in  France,  informed  him  that  he  saw 
no  ^^causam  belli,  onely  litigandi,"  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  not  temper  his  speech  **by  pouring  in  oyle  &  not  vine- 
gar,'*  and  thus  prevent  a  war  if  possible.^^^  In  Downing's 
behalf  it  may  be  said,  however,  that  his  attitude  was  the 
same  as  that  of  the  mercantile  interests  in  England  which 
he  so  well  represented.  The  increasing  importance  of  the 
mercantile  element,  both  in  England  and  Holland,  and  their 
desire  to  encroach  on  the  trade  of  one  another  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  especially  in  Guinea,  was  responsible  for  the 
war.^^^  When  the  war  was  inevitable,  representatives  of 
the  English  commercial  interests  assured  the  government 
of  their  loyal  support  and  assistance.^^^  As  for  the  Dutch 
they,  too,  entered  the  conflict  with  high  hopes,  for  they  did 
not  fear  Charles  II  as  they  had  feared  Cromwell. 

Sir  Eobert  Holmes  who  had  been  so  largely  respon- 
sible for  the  difficulties  which  resulted  in  the  Anglo-Dutch 
war  arrived  in  England  early  in  January,  1665.  He  was 
ordered  to  surrender  the  ships  which  he  had  taken  from 
the  Dutch  in  Guinea  to  the  Royal  Company.^^^  Qj^  the  9th 
of  January,  by  way  of  appeasing  VanGogh,  he  was  thrown 
into  the  Tower  of  London,^^^  where  he  was  to  remain,  the 
king  declared,  until  he  gave  a  satisfactory  account  of  his 
actions  at  Cape  Verde.  Once  more  it  appeared  as  if  pro- 
ceedings were  to  be  taken  against  him  **  according  to  the 

139  Add.  MSS.,  22,920,  f.  46,  Lord  Hollis  to  (Downing),  September  2/12, 
1664. 

1*0  On  October  30,  1664  (N.  S.),  d'Estrades  declared  to  the  king  of 
France  that  the  real  cause  of  the  war  then  about  to  begin  was  the  desire  of 
the  king  of  England  to  become  master  of  Guinea.  Memoires  d'Estrades,  II, 
517. 

1*1  See  the  paper  of  Sir  Kichard  Ford,  one  of  the  prominent  members  of 
the  Royal  Ck)mpan7.    aar.  St.  Paps.,  83,  f.  374. 

i*a  C.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  1664-5,  p.  164,  warrant  to  Holmes,  January  7,  1664. 

1*3  S.  P.,  Holland,  174,  f.  138,  VanGogh  to  Buysch,  January  9/19,  1665. 


64  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventueeks 

exigency  of  the  case.*'^^*  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  his 
imprisonment  resulted  from  the  capture  of  the  one  place, 
mention  of  which  was  omitted  in  his  instructions.  How- 
ever, Holmes  was  not  long  detained  in  confinement.  Prob- 
ably on  account  of  the  influence  of  the  duke  of  York  and  of 
Prince  Rupert  he  was  again  set  at  liberty  toward  the  last 
of  January, ^^^  and  VanGogh  reported  that  he  was  even  en- 
joying royal  favor.^^^  Apparently  Holmes  was  unable  to 
render  a  satisfactory  account  of  his  prizes  to  the  Royal 
Company,  however,  and  he  was  therefore  reconfined  in  the 
Tower  about  the  24th  of  February.^*^  On  the  third  of 
March  he  was  examined  before  the  Privy  Council  in  regard 
to  his  expedition.  His  explanation  of  the  various  events 
was  found  satisfactory  and  he  was  forthwith  ordered  to  be 
discharged  from  the  Tower.^*^  This  order  was  not  executed 
at  once  because  he  had  not  even  yet  rendered  a  satisfactory 
account  to  the  Company.^^^  Royal  clemency  was  invoked 
and  a  warrant  was  issued  March  23,  1665,  releasing  him 
from  all  criminal  and  pecuniary  charges  which  might  be 
brought  against  him.^^^  The  king's  intervention  in  his  be- 
half brought  to  an  end  the  connection  of  Sir  Robert  Holmes 
with  the  company's  affairs  on  the  African  coast. 

By  concluding  the  account  of  the  diplomatic  relations 
of  England  and  the  United  Provinces  with  the  early  part  of 
1665,  it  is  not  intended  to  convey  the  idea  that  all  diplomatic 
intercourse  between  the  two  countries  ceased  at  that  time. 
Downing  remained  in  The  Hague  until  August  of  that  year, 
but  neither  side  thought  seriously  of  attempting  to  prevent 
the  struggle  in  which  they  were  already  engaged  on  the 

14*  S.  P.,  Holland,  174,  f .  138.,  VanGogh  to  Euyscli,  January  ia/23,  1665. 
1*6  Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  den  BaadpensionariSf 
VanGogh  to  Buysch,  January  27/February  6,  1665. 

i^^Ihid.,  VonGogh  to  Euyscli,  January  30/February  9,  1665. 

147  Ihid.,  Cunaeus  to  ,  February  24/Marcli  6,  1665. 

148  p.  C.  K.,  Charles  II,  5:  69. 

i^oBrieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  den  Baadpensionaris, 
(VanGogh)  to  Euysch,  February  27/March  9,  1665. 

150  0.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  1664r-5,  p.  268,  order  to  release  Holmes,  March  23, 
1664/5. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Afeica  65 

African  coast.  DeEuyter  arrived  at  Cape  Verde  on  Oc- 
tober 11,  1664,  where  he  found  nine  English  vessels,  most 
of  which  were  in  the  service  of  the  Eoyal  Company  and  had 
only  recently  arrived  on  the  Guinea  coast.  In  response  to 
an  inquiry  made  by  the  English  as  to  his  intentions  De- 
Euyter replied  that  he  had  come  to  punish  the  Eoyal  Com- 
pany for  Holmes'  hostile  actions.  He  demanded  the  sur- 
render of  the  company's  factors  and  goods  on  shore  and 
on  the  several  ships.  Since  the  English  were  unable  to  re- 
sist they  surrendered  the  goods  of  the  Eoyal  Company  after 
which  the  vessels  were  permitted  to  depart.  In  this  way 
DeEuyter  attempted  to  show  plainly  that  he  was  not  carry- 
ing on  hostilities  against  the  English  nation,  but  was  only 
aiding  the  West  India  Company  to  recover  its  property  and 
goods,  and  to  punish  the  Eoyal  Company  for  the  actions  of 
Sir  Eobert  Holmes. 

DeEuyter  left  a  Dutch  garrison  at  Cape  Verde  and 
started  with  his  plunder  for  Elmina.  On  the  way  he  de- 
spoiled the  English  factory  on  the  Sierra  Leone  Eiver.  On 
December  25  he  arrived  on  the  Gold  Coast  and  made  an  at- 
tack on  Tacorary,  where  he  was  temporarily  repulsed,  but 
later  he  succeeded  in  blowing  up  this  English  factory.  He 
then  proceeded  to  unload  at  Elmina  the  effects  which  he 
had  taken  from  the  English.  While  doing  so  he  received 
orders  from  the  States  General,  dated  October  21,  1664, 
commanding  him  to  seize  all  English  goods  and  vessels, 
whether  they  belonged  to  the  Eoyal  Company  or  not.  In 
accordance  with  these  instructions  DeEuyter  captured  sev- 
eral English  vessels,  but  he  considered  his  chief  duty  to  be 
the  taking  of  the  English  fort  at  Kormentine.  An  agree- 
ment was  made  with  the  natives  of  the  neighboring  region 
of  Fetu,  who  acted  in  conjunction  with  the  Dutch  ships  and 
with  the  forces  which  DeEuyter  landed.  Although  many 
of  the  natives  remained  loyal  to  the  English,  Kormentine 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  attacking  party  about  the  first  of 
February,  1665.  The  other  English  factories,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Cape  Corse,  were  also  occupied  without  much 


66  The  Company  of  Royal.  Adventukers 

difficulty.  Although  DeRuyter  had  received  special  orders 
to  reduce  Cape  Corse,  he  considered  this  impossible,  on  ac- 
count of  the  ease  with  which  it  could  be  defended  and  the 
loyalty  of  the  Negroes  to  the  English  cause  in  that  terri- 
tory. DeRuyter  was  therefore  compelled  to  depart  from 
the  Grold  Coast  on  his  voyage  to  Barbadoes  without  having 
taken  possession  of  Cape  Corse.^^^ 

On  April  18,  1667,  Lord  Hollis  and  Sir  William  Cov- 
entry, who  were  selected  as  the  English  envoys  to  treat  for 
peace  between  England  and  the  United  Provinces,  were  in- 
structed to  propose  that  each  country  retain  whatever  places 
were  in  its  possession  on  the  25th  of  the  previous  Decem- 
ber. On  the  other  hand,  the  English  were  also  directed  to 
induce  the  Dutch  to  give  back  Kormentine  if  possible.^'^^ 
How  vigorously  the  envoys  urged  the  return  of  Kormentine 
cannot  be  ascertained,  but  at  any  rate  they  were  unsuccess- 
ful in  obtaining  it.  When  the  treaty  was  concluded  at 
Breda,  July  21,  1667,  it  provided  that  each  country  should 
retain  the  territories  which  it  held  on  the  tenth  of  the  pre- 
vious May.^^^    Thus  ended  the  war  which  had  in  so  large  a 

151  The  account  of  DeRuyter 's  voyage  given  here  is  a  digest  of  what  ap- 
pears at  much  greater  length  in  Brandt,  Vie  de  Buiter,  pp.  223-265.  A  short 
contemporary  English  account  may  be  found  in  C.  O.  1:  19,  ff.  8&,  89. 

152  s.  P.,  Holland,  182,  ff.  246,  247.  The  Dutch  had  entertained  some 
hopes  of  inducing  the  English  to  surrender  Cape  Corse,  as  is  evident  from 
negotiations  which  they  carried  on  with  the  Swedes  and  the  Danes.  In  March, 
].665,  a  treaty  was  drawn  up  between  Sweden  and  the  United  Provinces  in 
which  the  former  country  agreed  to  renounce  her  claims  of  damage  against 
the  West  India  Company  and  all  her  rights  to  any  places  on  the  African  coast, 
for  which  renunciation  the  States  General  was  to  pay  140,000  rix  dollars.  The 
treaty  failed  of  approbation  on  account  of  the  reluctance  of  the  king  of  Swe- 
den to  withdraw  his  interests  from'  the  coast  of  Africa.  Aitzema,  XI,  1102, 
1103;  S.  P.,  Holland,  174,  f.  148,  Downing  to  Bennet,  February  17,  1664/5 
(O.  S.)  ;  S.  P.,  Holland,  179,  f.  86,  Downing  to  Bennet,  March  10,  1665  (March 
10,  1664/5.     O.  S.). 

With  the  Danes  the  Dutch  had  more  success.  On  February  11,  1667,  a 
treaty  was  entered  into  between  Frederick  III,  of  Denmark  and  the  United 
Provinces,  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  Danes  should  surrender  all  their 
claims  to  Cape  Corse,  retaining,  however,  the  adjacent  fort  of  Fredericksburg, 
Dumont,  Corps  Universel  Diplomatique,  VI,  part  3,  p.  74. 

153  Dumont,  Corps  Universel  Diplomatique,  VI,  part  1,  pp.  44,  45,  article  3. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  67 

measure  been  caused  by  the  troubles  between  tbe  Eoyal 
Adventurers  and  the  West  India  Company. 

At  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  the  two  countries, 
the  English  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  in  a  better  position 
on  the  Guinea  coast  than  they  were  before  the  war.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  rebuild  new  factories 
at  the  places  which  they  had  lost  during  the  war.  Indeed  at 
the  time  peace  was  made  factories  had  already  been  settled 
in  several  places  occupied  before  DeEuyter's  expedition. 
Nicolas  Villaut,  a  Frenchman  who  made  a  voyage  down  the 
coast  of  Guinea  in  the  years  1666  and  1667,  mentioned  an 
English  factory  on  one  of  the  islands  in  the  Sierra  Leone 
Eiver,  another  at  Madra  Bomba  just  north  of  Cape  Mount, 
and  still  another  just  south  of  Cape  Miserado.^^*  He  also 
mentioned  the  strength  of  the  English  fortress  at  Cape 
Corse,  and  declared  that,  although  there  was  war  in  Europe 
between  England  and  Denmark,  the  English  factors  at  Cape 
Corse  and  those  of  the  Danes  at  the  neighboring  fort  of 
Fredericksburg  made  an  amicable  agreement  to  commit  no 
acts  of  hostility  against  one  another;  and  that  this  agree- 
ment was  so  punctually  observed  that  the  soldiers  of  the 
two  nations  mingled  freely  at  all  times.^^^  Villaut  failed  to 
describe  the  condition  of  the  company's  fort  in  the  Gambia 
Eiver,  but  on  October  30, 1667,  an  attack  on  it  by  the  natives 
was  reported  to  the  general  court  of  the  company. ^^^  The 
Negroes  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  the  island  but 
were  presently  dislodged  by  the  company's  factors  after 
the  loss  of  a  number  of  white  men.^^"^ 

Inasmuch  as  there  remain  very  scanty  records  of  the 
company's  trading  activities  and  the  manner  of  government 
instituted  at  its  forts  and  factories  on  the  Afri<jan  coast,  it 

154  Villaut,  A  'Relation  of  the  Coasts  of  Africa  called  Gmnee,  pp.  49,  56, 
75. 

i55J6mI.,  pp.  126,  131,  135.  Villaut  also  speaks  of  an  English  fort  at 
Eniacham  (Anashan). 

166  A.  C.  E.,  75:60. 

157  s.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  217,  f.  76,  John  Lysle  to  Williamson,  Septem- 
ber 16,  1667. 


68  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventueees 

is  impossible  to  describe  fully  these  aspects  of  the  com- 
pany's history.  When  the  company  first  sent  agents  to  the 
head  factory  at  Kormentine  seven  men  served  each  a 
month's  turn  as  chief  factor.  As  might  have  been  expected 
trouble  resulted  concerning  the  succession.^^^  The  company 
therefore  withdrew  this  order  and  directed  that  one  of  the 
factors  be  given  charge  of  affairs  with  the  title  of  chief 
agent  and  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  pounds  per  year.^*^^ 
After  the  Dutch  captured  Kormentine  in  1665,  Cape  Corse 
became  the  chief  English  factory,  under  the  direction  of 
Gilbert  Beavis,  who  was  replaced  by  Thomas  Pearson  in 
1667.  At  the  end  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  the  company's 
affairs  on  the  African  coast  were  at  a  low  ebb,  and  the  un- 
certainties of  the  Guinea  trade  were  at  once  demonstrated 
when  the  former  agent,  Beavis,  in  conjunction  with  the 
natives,  assaulted  Cape  Corse,  carrying  off  Pearson  and 
much  of  the  company's  goods.  With  the  assistance  of  one 
of  the  Eoyal  Company's  ships  the  factors  recovered  the  fort 
and  replaced  Pearson  in  charge  of  affairs,  where  he  re- 
mained to  the  year  1671.^^^ 

In  addition  to  these  difficulties  there  was  also  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  petty  quarrels  between  the  agents  of  the  Eoyal 
Company  and  those  of  the  West  India  Company,  which  had 
so  characterized  the  years  previous  to  the  war.  When  the 
English  began  to  build  lodges  at  Komenda  and  Agga,  the 
Dutch  general,  Dirck  Wilree,  at  once  objected,  claiming 
that  the  possession  of  the  adjacent  fort  of  Kormentine  gave 
them  exclusive  rights  to  those  places.^^^  The  English  de- 
nied this  claim^^2  ^nd  sent  home  for  more  supplies  to  for- 
tify Komenda.  At  the  same  time  they  advised  the  company 
that  the  licensed  private  traders  who  had  appeared  on  the 
coast  had  very  greatly  injured  the  trade  of  the  company's 

15SC.  O.  1:  17,  f.  243,  John  Allen  to  (the  Eoyal  Adventurers),  December 
18,  1663. 

159  A.  C.  E.,  75:  3. 

i«oS.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  U,  380,  f.  57;  ihid.,  381,  ff.  138,  139. 

181  C.  O.  1 :  23,  ff .  3,  4,  6,  7,  Wilree  to  Pearson,  January  23/February  2, 
and  February  14/24,  1668. 

leaZfetd.,  23,  f.  5,  Pearson  to  Wilree,  n.  d. 


On  the  West  Coast  of  Afeica  69 

factories,  because  they  sold  their  goods  very  mucli  cheaper 
than  the  company's  agents  could  afford  to.^^^  The  renewal 
of  the  trouble  between  the  two  companies  moved  the  gen- 
eral court  on  June  30,  1668,  to  ask  for  the  king's  assist- 
ance. ^^^  The  information  lately  received  from  the  com- 
pany's agents  was  read  in  the  Privy  Council  and  referred 
to  the  committee  for  trade.^^^  This  committee  recommended 
the  appointment  of  some  persons  to  treat  with  the  Dutch 
regarding  the  possession  of  the  disputed  places,  and  Sec- 
retary Morice  was  therefore  instructed  to  sound  the  Dutch 
ambassadors  in  London  about  the  matter.  Instructions  of 
a  similar  nature  were  to  be  given  to  Sir  William  Temple, 
who  was  about  to  depart  for  the  United  Netherlands  as  the 
English  ambassador.^^^At  this  point  the  matter  seems  to 
have  been  dropped  without  further  discussion,  and  Ko- 
menda  remained  a  subject  of  possible  contention  between 
the  English  and  the  Dutch  for  many  years  to  come. 

During  the  latter  years  of  the  history  of  the  Company 
of  Eoyal  Adventurers  the  factories  including  Cape  Corse 
fell  into  great  decay,  on  acount  of  the  failure  of  the  com- 
pany to  send  out  ships  and  supplies.  Nearly  all  the  Eng- 
lish trade  was  carried  on  in  the  vessels  of  private  traders, 
who  in  return  for  their  licenses  agreed  to  take  one-tenth 
of  their  cargoes  free  of  all  freight  charges.  These  goods 
were  to  be  used  for  the  maintenance  of  the  company's  fac- 
tories, especially  Cape  Corse.^^''^  Even  this  provision  was 
not  sufficient,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  1670,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  send  some  additional  supplies  for 
the  immediate  relief  of  Cape  Corse.^^^    The  king,  who  was 

i«3  c.  O.  1 :  23,  f .  2,  Pearson  and  others  to  the  Eoyal  Adventurers,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1667/&. 

16*  A.  C.  E.,  75:  75. 

i«5C.  O.  1:  23,  f.  1,  petition  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  (July  3),  1668; 
P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  7 :  374,  July  3,  1668. 

166  p.  c.  E.,  7 :  378,  July  8,  1668.  The  minutes  of  the  general  court  for 
November  14,  1668,  mention  a  letter  intended  to  be  dispatched  to  Sir  William 
Temple.    A.  C.  E.,  75:  81. 

16TA.  C.  E.,  100:47,  48. 

i^slUd.,  75:96. 


70  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventubees 

still  indebted  to  the  company  for  his  subscription  to  the 
stock,  was  induced  to  pay  a  part  of  it.  With  this  money 
two  ships  were  despatched  for  the  relief  of  Cape  Corse^^^ 
which  had  been  in  great  distress.^"^^ 

i«»C.  O.  1:  25,  f.  227,  estimate  of  charges  for  supplies  at  Cape  Corse, 
December  19,  1670;  A.  C.  E.,  75:  106,  107. 

170  Foreign  Entry  Book,  176,  minutes  of  the  foreign  committee,  January 
22,  1671/2. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Royal  Adventueeks  and  the  Plantations 

The  early  trade  of  the  English  to  the  coast  of  Africa  was 
very  largely  in  exchange  for  products  which  could  be  sold  in 
England.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  elephants'  teeth, >|j 
wax,  malaguetta  and  gold.  As  has  been  shown,  the  hope  of 
discovering  gold  mines  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  first 
expedition  sent  to  Africa  by  the  Royal  Adventurers  in  De- 
cember, 1660.  When  this  scheme  to  mine  gold  was  aban- 
doned the  company's  agents  traded  for  gold  which  was 
brought  down  from  the  interior  or  washed  out  by  the  slow 
and  laborious  toil  of  the  natives.  The  other  African  prod- 
ucts, especially  elephants'  teeth,  were  brought  to  London 
where  they  sold  quite  readily  for  very  good  prices. 

Although  this  direct  trade  between  England  and  Africa 
was  never  neglected,  the  slave  trade  with  the  English  colo- 
nies in  the  West  Indies  was  destined  to  absorb  the  com- 
pany's attention  because  the  supply  of  indentured  servants^ 
was  never  great  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  rapidly 
growing  sugar  and  indigo  plantations.  From  the  planter's 
point  of  view,  moreover,  slaves  had  numerous  advantages 
over  white  servants  as  plantation  laborers.  Slaves  and 
their  children  after  them  were  chattel  property  for  life. 
The  danger  of  rebellion  was  very  small  because  often  the 
slaves  could  not  even  converse  with  one  another,  since  they 
were  likely  to  be  from  different  parts  of  Africa  and  there- 
fore to  speak  a  different  dialect.  Finally,  neither  the  orig- 
inal outlay  for  slaves  nor  the  cost  of  feeding  and  clothing 
them  was  great,  and  therefore  slaves  were  regarded  as  more 
economical  than  indentured  servants.  Moreover,  there  was 
much  to  be  said  against  encouraging  the  lower  classes  of 
England  to  come  to  the  plantations,  where  they  often  en- 

1  These  were  people  of  the  rougher  and  even  criminal  classes  of  the  parent 
country  who,  in  return  for  their  ocean  passage,  agreed  to  work  for  some  planter 
during  a  specified  number  of  years,  usually  seven. 

71 


f. 


72  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventukeks 

gaged  in  disturbances  of  one  kind  and  another.  Also,  after 
a  service  of  a  few  years,  it  was  necessary  to  allow  them  to 
go  where  they  pleased.  Nevertheless,  with  all  their  disad- 
vantages, it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  planters  preferred 
the  white  servants  to  any  others.  It  was,  however,  impos- 
sible to  obtain  the  needed  supply  of  labor  from  this  source 
and  therefore  it  was  always  necessary  to  import  slaves 
from  Africa. 

Previous  to  the  accession  of  Charles  II  not  many  slaves 
were  imported  into  the  English  possessions  in  the  West 
Indies.  Of  this  small  number  all  but  a  few  had  been  brought 
by  the  ships  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  The  Dutch 
centered  their  West  India  trade  at  the  island  of  Curasao, 
whence  they  could  supply  not  only  their  own  colonies  with 
slaves  but  those  of  the  French,  English  and  even  the  Span- 
ish when  opportunity  offered.  So  great  was  the  demand 
for  slaves  and  other  necessities  procured  from  the  Dutch 
that  the  English  planters  in  the  West  Indies  regarded  this 
trade  as  highly  desirable.  For  instance,  when  the  island  of 
Barbadoes  surrendered  to  the  Parliamentary  forces,  Janu- 
ary 11,  1652,  it  stipulated  that  it  should  retain  its  freedom 
of  trade  and  that  no  company  should  be  formed  which  would 
monopolize  its  commodities.^  Nevertheless,  by  the  Naviga- 
tion Act  of  1660  colonial  exports,  part  of  which  had  to  be 
carried  only  to  England,  were  confined  to  English  ships. 
This  was  a  sufficient  limitation  of  their  former  freedom  of 
trade  to  incense  the  planters  in  the  West  Indies ;  but,  as  a 
matter  of  greater  importance  to  them,  the  king  granted  to 
the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers  the  exclusive  trade  to 
the  western  coast  of  Africa,  thus  limiting  their  supply  of 
Negro  slaves  to  this  organization.  The  company  there- 
fore undertook  this  task,  realizing  that  in  the  Negro  trade  it 
would  find  by  far  its  most  lucrative  returns.  Not  only  did 
the  company  supply  the  planters  with  slaves,  their  greatest 
necessity,  but  in  exchange  for  these  it  took  sugar  and  other 

2C.  S.  p.,  Col.,  1674-1675,  Addenda,  p.  86,  articles  agreed  on  by  Lord 
Willoughby  and  Sir  George  Ayseue  and  others,  January  11,  1652. 


The  Royal.  Adventtjrees  and  the  Plantations       73 

plantation  products,  which  it  carried  to  England.    It  was 
natural  that  the  company  should  endeavor  to  make  a  success 
of  its  business.    On  the  other  hand,  it  was  also  to  be  expected  . 
that  the  planters  would  regard  the  company  as  a  monopoly  \ 
and  a  nuisance  to  be  outwitted  if  possible. 

In  1660  Barbadoes  was  in  much  the  same  condition  as 
is  true  of  every  rapidly  expanding  new  country.    The  set- 
tlers occupied  as  much  land  as  they  could  obtain  and  di- 
rected every  effort  toward  its  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment.   The  growing  of  sugar  had  proved  to  be  very  profit- 
able and  every  planter  saw  his  gains  limited  only  by  the 
lack  of  labor  to  cultivate  his  lands.    Every  possible  effort 
was  therefore  made  to  obtain  laborers  and  machinery.    Al- 
though the  planters  had  little  ready  capital,  they  made  pur- 
chases with  a  free  hand,  depending  upon  the  returns  from 
their  next  year  *s  crop  to  pay  off  their  debts.    As  a  result,  \ 
the  planters  were  continually  in  debt  to  the  merchants.    The 
merchants  greatly  desired  that  Barbadoes  should  be  made 
as  dependent  on  England  as  possible  in  order  that  the  con- 
stantly increasing  amount  of  money  which  the  planters 
owed  them  might  be  better  secured.    Moreover,  they  wished 
to  prevent  the  planters  from  manipulating  the  laws  of  the 
island  in  such  a  way  as  to  hinder  the  effective  collection  of 
debts.^    The  planters,  on  the  other  hand,  appreciated  very 
keenly  the  ill  effects  upon  themselves  of  the  laws  which 
were  passed  in  England  for  the  regulation  of  commerce. 
They  bitterly  complained  of  the  enumerated  article  clause ' 
of  the  Navigation  Act  of  1660,  which  provided  that  all  ; 
sugars,  indigo  and  cotton-wool  should  be  carried  only  taj 
England.    Already  the  planters  were  very  greatly  in  debt  -; 
to  the  merchants  and  they  saw  in  this  new  law  the  begin-  ; 
ning  of  the  restrictions  by  which  the  merchants  intended  to  \ 
throttle  their  trade.    Indeed  it  seemed  to  the  planters  as  if 
they  were  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  merchants,  who 
paid  what  they  pleased  for  sugar,  and  charged  excessive 

3  C.  S.  p.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  14,  petitions  of  merchants  and  planters, 
March  1,  1661. 


74  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

prices  for  Negroes,  cattle  and  supplies.^  Among  those  who 
were  regarded  as  oppressors  were  the  factors  of  the  Eoyal 
Company,  which  controlled  the  Negro  supply  upon  which 
the  prosperity  of  the  plantations  depended. 

Sir  Thomas  Modyford,  speaker  of  the  assembly,  also 
became  the  agent  for  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  in  Barbadoes. 
Modyford  was  very  enthusiastic  about  the  company's  pros- 
pects for  a  profitable  trade  in  Negroes  with  the  Spanish 
colonies.  The  people  of  Barbadoes  neither  shared  Mody- 
ford's  enthusiasm  for  this  trade  nor  for  the  company's 
monopoly,  because  they  believed  that  thereby  the  price  of 
slaves  was  considerably  increased.  On  December  18,  1662, 
the  council  and  assembly  of  Barbadoes  resolved  to  ask  the 
king  for  a  free  trade  to  Africa  or  for  assurance  that  the  fac- 
tors of  the  Eoyal  Company  would  sell  their  slaves  for  the 
same  price  as  other  merchants.^  Very  shortly,  the  duke  of 
York,  the  company's  governor,  informed  Governor  Wil- 
loughby  that  the  company  had  made  arrangements  to  pro- 
vide Barbadoes  and  the  Caribbee  Islands  with  3,000  slaves 
per  annum  and  that  the  needs  of  the  islands  would  be  at- 
tended to  as  conditions  changed.  Moreover,  the  company 
pledged  itself  to  see  that  all  Negroes  imported  into  the 
island  should  be  sold  by  lots,  as  had  been  the  custom,  at  the 
average  rate  of  seventeen  pounds  per  head  or  for  commodi- 
ties of  the  island  rated  at  that  price.^'  The  duke  of  York 
also  requested  Governor  Willoughby  to  ascertain  if  possible 
how  many  Negroes  were  desired  by  the  planters  at  that 
rate,  and  to  see  that  any  planters  who  wished  to  become 
members  of  the  company  should  be  given  an  opportunity 
to  do  so.^ 

4C.  S.  p.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  pp.  29,  30,  45,  46,  47,  petitions  from  Barbadoes, 
May  11,  July  10,  12,  1661. 

fi  Ibid.,  p.  117,  minutes  of  the  council  and  assembly  of  Barbadoes,  Decem- 
ber 18,  1662. 

6  The  pieces  of  eight  were  to  be  accepted  at  four  shillings  each,  and  2,400 
pounds  of  muscovado  sugar  were  to  be  accepted  in  exchange  for  a  slave. 

7  Answer  of  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers  of  England  ...  to  the 
Petition  .  .  .  exhibited  ...  by  Sir  Paul  Painter,  His  Eoyal  Highness  (the 
duke  of  York)  and  others  to  Lord  Willoughby,  January  10,  1662/3. 


The  Eoyal.  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations      75 

When  the  company's  factors,  Sir  Thomas  Modyford  and 
Sir  Peter  Colleton,  began  to  sell  Negroes  to  the  planters 
they  encountered  endless  trouble  and  litigation  in  the  col- 
lection of  debts.  In  a  vivid  description  of  their  difficulties 
to  the  company  they  declared  that  Governor  Willoughby 
did  nothing  to  assist  them  until  he  received  several  admoni- 
tions from  the  king.  To  be  sure  the  governor's  power  in 
judicial  matters  was  limited  by  the  council,  which  in  large 
part  was  made  up  of  landholders  who  naturally  attempted 
to  shield  the  planters  from  their  creditors.  In  case  an  exe- 
cution on  a  debt  was  obtained  from  a  local  court  the  prop- 
erty remained  in  the  hands  of  the  debtor  for  eighty  days. 
During  this  time  the  debtor  often  made  away  with  the  prop- 
erty, if  it  was  in  the  form  of  chattel  goods.  If  the  judgment 
was  against  real  estate  the  land  also  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  debtor  for  eighty  days,  during  which  time  a  commit- 
tee, usually  neighbors  of  the  debtor,  appraised  the  land, 
often  above  its  real  value.  If  this  sum  exceeded  the  debt, 
the  creditor  was  compelled  to  pay  the  difference.  As  the 
factors  declared,  therefore,  it  was  a  miracle  if  the  creditors 
got  their  money.^ 

In  1664,  Sir  Thomas  Modyford  was  called  from  Barba- 
does  to  become  governor  of  Jamaica.^  In  his  place  the 
Eoyal  Adventurers  selected  John  Reid,  who  had  resided  for 
several  years  in  Spain  and  was  therefore  conversant  with 
the  needs  of  the  Spanish  colonies  concerning  slaves.  Reid 
also  obtained  the  office  of  sub-commissioner  of  prizes  in 
Barbadoes.^^ 

After  Modyford 's  departure  from  Barbadoes  the  factors 
still  experienced  great  difficulty  in  collecting  the  company's 
debts.  Although  Willoughby  had  not  exerted  himself  in  its 
behalf  the  company  informed  the  king  that  it  had  supplied 
the  planters  liberally  with  slaves,  but  that  the  planters 

8  C.  O.  1 :  18,  ff.  85,  86,  Modyford  and  Colleton-  to  the  Eoyal  Adventurers, 
March  20,  1664. 

»A.  C.  E.,  75:  13,  14,  15. 
10  lUd.,  75 :  20. 


76  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurees 

owed  the  company  £40,000,^^  and  that  by  reason  of  the  in- 
tolerable delays  in  the  courts  it  was  impossible  to  collect 
this  sum.  Thereupon  the  earl  of  Clarendon  wrote  to  Gov- 
ernor Willoughby  admonishing  him  to  take  such  measures 
as  would  make  a  renewal  of  the  company's  complaints  un- 
necessary. In  this  letter  Clarendon  also  declared  that  while 
the  king  had  shown  great  care  for  the  planters  by  restrain- 
ing the  company  from  charging  excessive  prices  for  slaves, 
he  should  also  protect  the  interests  of  the  merchants.  Wil- 
loughby, therefore,  was  recommended  to  see  speedy  justice 
given  to  the  company,  and  to  use  his  influence  in  obtaining 
a  better  law  for  the  collection  of  debts.^^ 
..  To  add  to  the  company's  difficulties  private  traders  be- 
^  gan  to  infringe  upon  the  territory  included  in  the  company's 
charter.  As  an  instance  of  this  Captain  Pepperell,  in 
charge  of  one  of  the  company's  ships,  seized  an  interloper 
called  the  *^ William  and  Jane"  off  the  coast  of  New  Cala- 
bar in  Guinea.  When  Pepperell  appeared  at  Barbadoes 
with  his  prize,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  captured  ship 
brought  suit  in  a  common  law  court  against  the  company's 
commander  for  damages  to  the  extent  of  500,000  pounds 
of  sugar.  The  company's  factors  at  once  went  bail  for 
Pepperell.  Ordinarily  the  case  would  have  been  tried  by 
a  jury  of  planters  from  whom  the  company's  agents  could 
expect  no  consideration.  The  factors,  therefore,  petitioned 
to  have  the  case  removed  from  the  common  law  courts  to 
the  admiralty  court  where  the  governor  was  the  presiding 
officer.  A  jury  of  sympathetic  islanders  would  thus  be 
dispensed  with  and,  if  necessary,  the  case  could  be  appealed 
to  a  higher  court  in  England  with  greater  ease.  When 
Willoughby  called  the  admiralty  court  on  June  17,  1665, 
the  factors  cited  the  company's  royal  charter  which  justi- 
fied the  seizure  of  interlopers.  Notwithstanding  the  clear 
case  which  the  company's  agents  seemed  to  have  the  matter 

11  On  January  2,  1665,  tlie  company  estimated  the  entire  debt  which  was 
owing  to  it  in  all  the  plantations  at  £49,895.  S.  P.,  Dom.,  Charles  II,  110,  f .  18, 
petition  of  the  Royal  Adventurers  to  the  king. 

12  P.  C.  B.,  Charles  II,  4:  177,  190-192,  August  3,  24,  1664. 


The  Royal  Adventukers  and  the  Plantations      77 

was  adjourned  for  a  week.  Fearing  that  the  governor  might 
take  action  adverse  to  the  company's  interests  the  factors 
succeeded  in  sending  the  ship  in  question  to  Jamaica  where 
it  was  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Lord  Willoughby.^^ 
The  bail  bonds  against  Pepperell  were  not  withdrawn,  and 
therefore  he  stood  in  as  great  danger  of  prosecution  as 
ever.  When  the  company  learned  of  this  situation  it  im- 
mediately petitioned  Secretary  Arlington  that  Willoughby 
be  commanded  not  to  permit  any  further  procedures 
against  Pepperell  and  to  transmit  the  whole  case  to  the 
Privy  Council.  It  also  requested  that  those  who  had  trans- 
gressed the  company's  charter  should  be  punished.^ ^  The 
Privy  Council  issued  an  order  in  accordance  with  the  com- 
pany's desires.^^  Willoughby  accused  the  factors  of  hav- 
ing reported  the  case  falsely  and  of  having  affronted  him 
grossly  by  taking  the  vessel  in  question  away  from  the 
island  by  stealth.  Moreover,  he  declared  that  he  would 
have  made  them  understand  his  point  of  view  '  ^  if  they  had 
not  been  employed  by  soe  Royall  a  Compagnie."^^ 

Since  Willoughby  persistently  neglected  to  send  Pep- 
perelPs  bail  bonds  to  England,  the  Royal  Company  finally 
reported  the  matter  again  to  the  king.^^  Once  more  the 
case  was  heard  in  the  Privy  Council,  where  it  was  referred 
to  the  committee  on  trade  and  plantations.^^  On  January 
31,  1668,  the  Privy  Council  issued  an  order  to  Governor 
Willoughby,  brother  of  the  former  incumbent,  command- 
ing him  to  stop  all  proceedings  against  the  Royal  Com- 
pany and  commanding  him  to  send  everything  in  regard 
to  the  case  to  England  without  delay.^^    Lord  Willoughby 

13  C.  O.  1 :  19,  ff.  234^238,  proceedings  of  tlie  court  of  admiralty  in  Bar- 
bado€s,  June  17,  24,  1665. 

^^liid.,  f.  232,  petition  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  to  Arlington,  Septem- 
ber 14,  1665. 

15  P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  5 :  402,  Privy  Council  to  Willoughby,  April  6,  1666. 

16  C.  O.  1 :  20,  f .  209,  Willoughby  to  Privy  Council,  July  16,  1666. 

^T  Ibid.,  f.  335,  petition  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  to  the  king,  December 
7,  1666. 

18  P.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  6 :  231,  December  7,  1666. 

19  Ibid.,  7:  162,  163,  Privy  Council  to  Willoughby,  January  31,  1668. 


78  The  Company  of  Eoyal.  Adventurers 

replied  that  so  far  as  he  could  ascertain  all  the  records  had 
been  sent  to  England  and  that  if  any  others  were  found  he 
would  also  despatch  them.^^  Thus  ended  this  contest  in 
regard  to  the  maintenance  of  the  company's  privileges. 
The  king  had  not  allowed  his  royal  prerogative  to  be  inter- 
fered with  and  the  company's  charter  was  regarded  as  in- 
tact. Theoretically  the  victory  was  all  in  favor  of  the  com- 
pany, but  on  account  of  the  losses  which  it  was  incurring 
in  the  Anglo-Dutch  war,  it  was  impossible  for  the  company 
to  furnish  a  sufficient  supply  of  Negroes  to  Barbadoes,  that 
is,  if  Lord  Willoughby's  heated  protests  can  be  trusted. 

Speaking  of  the  general  prohibitions  on  their  trade, 
the  governor  exclaimed,  May  12,  1666,  that  he  had  *'come 
to  where  itt  pinches,  and  if  3^or  Ma*^  gives  not  an  ample  & 
speedy  redress,  you  have  not  onely  lost  St.  Christophers 
but  you  will  lose  the  rest,  I  (aye)  &  famous  Barbadoes,  too, 
I  feare.''  In  bitter  terms  he  spoke  of  the  poverty  of  the 
island,  protesting  that  anyone  who  had  recommended  the 
various  restraints  on  the  colony's  trade  was  *^more  a  mer- 
chant than  a  good  subject."  The  restriction  on  the  trade 
to  Guinea,  he  declared,  was  one  of  the  things  that  had 
brought  Barbadoes  to  its  present  condition ;  and  the  favor- 
itism displayed  toward  the  Eoyal  Company  in  carrying  on 
the  Negro  trade  with  the  Spaniards  had  entirely  deprived 
the  colonial  government  of  an  export  duty  on  slaves.^^ 

The  decision  of  the  company  to  issue  licenses  to  private 
traders  did  not  allay  the  storm  of  criticism  that  continued 
to  descend  on  the  company  from  Barbadoes.  The  new  gov- 
ernor, as  his  brother  had  done,  urged  a  free  trade  to  Gruinea 
for  Negroes,  maintaining  that  slaves  had  become  so  scarce 
and  expensive  that  the  poor  planters  would  be  forced  to  go 
to  foreign  plantations  for  a  livelihood.^^  He  complained 
that  the  Colletons,  father  and  son,  the  latter  of  whoni  was 
one  of  the  company's  factors,  had  helped  to  bring  about 

20  C.  O.  1 :  22,  f .  191,  Willoughbj  to  Privy  Council,  May  30,  1668. 
ai  Ibid.,  20,  f .  149,  Willoughby  to  the  king,  May  12,  1666. 
i^Ihid.,  21,  f.  170,  WiUoughby  to  the  king,   fJuly,  1667. 


The  Eoyal.  Adventueers  and  the  Plantations       79 

this  critical  condition.^^  On  September  5,  1667,  represen- 
tatives of  the  whole  colony  petitioned  the  king  to  throw 
open  the  Guinea  trade  or  to  force  the  company  to  supply 
them  with  slaves  at  the  prices  promised  in  the  early  dec- 
laration, although  even  those  prices  seemed  like  a  canker 
of  usury  to  the  much  abused  planters. ^^ 

Following  these  complaints  Sir  Paul  Painter  and  others 
submitted  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  which 
they  asserted  that  an  open  trade  to  Africa  was  much  better 
than  one  carried  on  by  a  company.  They  maintained  that 
previous  to  the  establishment  of  the  Royal  Adventurers 
Negroes  had  been  sold  for  twelve,  fourteen  and  sixteen 
pounds  per  head,  or  1,600  to  1,800  pounds  of  sugar,  whereas 
now  the  company  was  selling  the  best  slaves  to  the  Span- 
iards at  eighteen  pounds  per  head,  while  the  planters  paid 
as  high  as  thirty  pounds  for  those  of  inferior  grade.  This, 
they  declared,  had  so  exasperated  the  planters  that  they 
often  refused  to  ship  their  sugar  and  other  products  to 
England  in  the  company's  ships,  no  matter  what  freight 
rates  the  factors  offered. 

In  reply  to  the  petition  of  Sir  Paul  Painter,  Ellis  Leigh- 
jton,  the  company's  secretary,  admitted  that  as  a  natural 
result  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  the  price  of  slaves,  like  all 
other  products  in  Barbadoes,  had  increased  considerably. 
He  denied  that  this  increase  could  be  attributed  to  the  sale 
of  Negroes  to  the  Spaniards,  since  the  company  had  not  dis- 
posed of  more  than  1,200  slaves  to  them.  He  contended 
that  the  company  had  been  thrown  into  a  critical  financial 
condition,  partly  as  the  result  of  the  losses  incurred  from 
DeRuyter  in  Africa,  but  mostly  by  the  constantly  increas- 
ing debts  which  the  planters  owed  to  the  company.  Not- 
withstanding these  difficulties  Secretary  Leighton  main- 
tained that  since  the  formation  of  the  company  Barbadoes 

^        23  c.  O.  1:  21,  f.  222,  Willoughby  to  Williamson,  September  17,  1667. 

^^Ibid.,  f.  209,  petition  of  the  representatives  of  Barbadoes  to  the 
king,  September  5,  1667.  This  document  and  Willoughby  *s  letter  of  Septem- 
ber 17,  1667,  also  urge  very  strongly  that  the  bars  of  the  Navigation  Acts  be 
let  down  in  order  to  permit  servants  to  be  imported  from  Scotland. 


80  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

had  been  supplied  more  adequately  with  slaves  than  at  any 
previous  time.  As  for  the  planters '  having  refused  to  ship 
their  goods  on  the  company's  ships,  he  declared  that  this 
was  nothing  more  than  they  had  consistently  done  since 
the  formation  of  the  company. ^^ 

In  answer  to  the  planters '  representation  of  September 
5, 1667,  Sir  Ellis  Leighton  admitted  that  if  Barbadoes  alone 
was  being  considered,  a  free  trade  to  Guinea  was  prefer- 
able to  any  other,  but  since  the  trade  of  the  whole  nation 
had  to  be  given  first  consideration  the  idea  was  pernicious. 
He  asserted  that  the  company  was  willing  to  furnish  the 
planters  with  all  the  Negroes  they  desired  at  the  rates  al- 
ready published,  seventeen  pounds  per  head,  provided  se- 
curity was  given  for  payment  in  money  or  sugar ;  that  in- 
stead of  a  lack  of  Negroes  in  Barbadoes  there  had  been  so 
large  a  number  left  on  the  hands  of  the  factors  that  many 
had  died;  and  that  if  the  planters  were  sincere  in  their 
complaints  they  would  be  willing  to  agree  with  the  com- 
pany on  a  definite  number  of  slaves  which  they  would  take 
annually.2« 

Since  the  importance  of  the  Royal  Company  was  by  this 
time  definitely  on  the  wane  Sir  Paul  Painter  succeeded  in 
presenting  his  petition  regarding  affairs  in  Barbadoes  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  September,  1667.  Although  the 
Royal  Company  was  ordered  to  produce  its  charter  no 
further  action  was  taken.  The  planters  were  by  no  means 
discouraged  and  again  requested  the  Privy  Council  to  con- 

25  The  petition  and  these  answers  are  printed  in  a  pamphlet  entitled, 
**  Answer  of  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers  of  England  trading  into 
Africa,  to  the  Petition  and  Paper  of  certain  Heads  and  Particulars  thereunto 
relating  exhibited  to  the  Honourable  House  of  Commons  by  Sir  Paul  Painter, ' ' 
As  to  the  assertion  that  the  planters  refused  to  ship  their  products  in  the 
company  *s  ships  there  seems  to  be  no  very  good  evidence  on  either  side. 
Sometimes  the  company's  vessels  were  sent  home  from  Barbadoes  empty.  Upon 
Buch  occasions  the  agents  always  said  that  there  were  no  goods  with  which  to 
load  them. 

»«C.  O.  1:  22,  f.  42,  answer  of  Sir  Ellis  Leighton,  secretary  of  the  Eoyal 
Adventurers,  to  the  petition  from  Barbadoes  of  September  5,  1667;  C.  O. 
1 :  22,  f .  43,  proposal  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  concerning  the  sale  of  Negroes 
in  Barbadoes,  f  January,  1668. 


The  Eoyal.  Adventukebs  and  the  Plantations      81 

sider  the  matter  of  granting  a  free  trade  to  Guinea.^'' 
Later  the  people  of  Barbadoes  once  more  represented  to 
the  king  the  inconceivable  poverty  caused  by  the  lack  of 
free  trade  to  Guinea  and  other  places.^^  Some  of  the  Bar- 
badoes assemblymen  even  suggested  that  all  the  merchants 
be  excluded  from  the  island,  and  that  an  act  be  passed  for- 
bidding any  one  to  sue  for  a  debt  within  four  years.^^ 

Finally,  on  May  12,  1669,  in  answer  to  the  numerous 
complaints  of  Barbadoes,  the  Privy  Council  informed  the 
islanders  that  the  king  would  not  infringe  upon  the  char- 
ter granted  to  the  African  Company;  and  that  sufficient 
Negroes  would  be  furnished  to  the  planters  at  reasonable 
prices  providing  the  company  was  assured  of  payment.^^ 
The  company  was  pleased  at  the  king's  favorable  decision 
and  at  once  represented  to  him  its  critical  financial  condi- 
tion because  the  planters  refused  to  pay  their  just  debts.^^ 
The  complaint  of  the  company  was  considered  in  the  Coun- 
cil September  28,  1669,  at  which  time  an  order  was  issued 
requiring  that  henceforth  land  as  well  as  chattel  property 
in  Barbadoes  might  be  sold  at  public  auction  for  the  satis- 
faction of  debts.  The  governor  was  directed  to  see  that 
this  order  not  only  became  a  law  in  Barbadoes,  but  that 
after  it  had  been  passed  it  was  to  be  executed.^^ 

Thus  it  became  clear  that  the  planters  of  Barbadoes 
could  hope  for  no  relief  from  the  king  and,  therefore,  dur- 
ing the  few  remaining  years  in  which  the  company  was  in 
existence  they  made  no  other  consistent  effort  to  convince 
the  king  of  their  point  of  view.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
company  expected  the  king's  instructions  to  be  of  great 
assistance  it  was  sorely  disappointed.    On  August  2,  1671, 

27  C.  O.  1 :  22,  f .  204,  address  of  the  merchants  and  planters  of  Barbadoes 
now  in  London,  read  at  the  committee  of  trade,  June  16,  1668. 

zBllid.,  23,  f.  69,  address  of  the  representative  of  Barbadoes  to  the 
king,  August  3,  1668. 

^9  Ibid.,  f.  42,  account  of  affairs  in  Barbadoes  by  Lord  Willoughby, 
July  22,  1668. 

sop.  C.  E.,  Charles  II,  8:  294,  May  12,  1669. 

91  Ibid.,  8:  402,  August  27,  1669. 

32  Ibid.,  8:  424,  September  28,  1669. 


82  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventukers 

Jolin  Eeid  reported  that  they  had  been  unable  to  recover 
the  company's  debts,^^  and  further  appeals  to  the  king  for 
relief  were  of  no  avail.^* 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  whether  Barbadoes  was  in  as 
great  need  of  slaves  as  the  planters  often  asserted.  The 
records  kept  by  the  factors  in  the  island  have  nearly  all 
disappeared.  From  an  early  ledger  kept  by  the  Barbadoes 
factors  it  appears  that  from  August  11,  1663,  to  March  17, 
1664,  the  usual  time  for  the  chief  importation  of  the  year, 
3,075  Negroes  were  received  by  the  company's  factors. 
These  slaves,  1,051  men,  1,018  women,  136  boys  and  56 
girls,  were  sold  in  return  partly  for  sugar  and  partly  for 
money.  Estimating  2,400  pounds  of  sugar  as  equal  to  sev- 
enteen pounds  it  appears  that  the  average  price  for  these 
Negroes  was  a  little  over  sixteen  pounds  per  head.^^  This 
comparatively  low  price  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  women  and  children  are  averaged  with  the  men, 
who  sold  for  a  higher  price.  These  figures  show  therefore 
that  the  company's  factors  were  selling  adult  slaves  at 
about  seventeen  pounds  each,  as  the  company  had  publicly 
declared  that  it  would  do. 

In  1667  the  company  asserted  that  it  had  furnished  the 
plantations  with  about  6,000  slaves  each  year.  This  state- 
ment is  to  be  doubted  since  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  had  prac- 
tically disrupted  the  company's  entire  trade  on  the  African 
coast.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  reason  to  think  that  the 
need  for  slaves  in  Barbadoes  was  not  so  pressing  as  might 
be  inferred  from  the  statements  of  the  plant ers.^^  They 
naturally  insisted  on  a  large  supply  of  slaves  in  order  to 
keep  the  prices  as  low  as  possible.  There  seems  no  doubt, 
however,  that  the  islanders  were  able  to  obtain  more  Ne- 
groes than  they  could  pay  for  and  were  therefore  hope- 

83  C.  O.  1 :  27,  f .  24,  John  Reid  to  fArlington,  August  2,  1671. 
8*  A.  C.  E.,  75:  106,  108,  109,  September  11,  November  10,  1671. 

35  These  numbers  and  prices  are  gleaned  from  page  three  of  the  Barba- 
does ledger.     A.  C.  R.,  646. 

36  Answer  of  the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  ...  to  the  Petition  .  .  . 
exhibited  ...  by  Sir  Paul  Painter. 


The  E-oyali  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations       83 

lessly  in  debt  to  the  company.  On  July  9,  1668,  Governor 
Willoughby  estimated  the  total  population  of  Barbadoes  at 
60,000,  of  which  40,000  were  slaves.^^  Indeed  some  mer- 
chants declared  that  the  slaves  outnumbered  the  white  men 
twenty  to  one.^^ 

As  compared  to  its  trade  with  Barbadoes  and  Jamaica 
the  company's  trade  in  slaves  to  the  Leeward  Islands  was 
insignificant.  The  company  located  at  Nevis  a  factor  who 
reported  to  the  agents  in  Barbadoes^^  and  also  at  An- 
tigua where  Governor  Byam  acted  as  agent.^^  After  the 
war  the  company  seems  to  have  neglected  the  islands  alto- 
gether. Upon  one  occasion  the  planters  of  Antigua  pleaded 
unsuccessfully  to  have  Negroes  furnished  to  them  on 
credit.^^  At  another  time  they  asserted  that  the  company 
treated  them  much  worse  than  it  did  the  planters  of  Bar- 
badoes because  the  latter  were  able  to  use  their  influence 
with  the  company  to  divert  the  supply  of  slaves  to  Bar- 
badoes. Their  condition,  they  declared,  seemed  all  the 
more  bitter  when  they  considered  the  thriving  trade  in 
Negroes  which  the  Dutch  carried  on  from  the  island  of 
Curagao^^ 

In  Surinam,  also  there  was  a  lack  of  slaves  which  was 
attributed  to  the  prominent  men  of  Barbadoes  who  were 
supposed  to  be  influential  with  the  Eoyal  Company.^^ 
Later,  during  the  Anglo-Dutch  war,  one  of  the  company's 
ships  in  attempting  to  go  to  Surinam  with  Negroes,  was 
captured  by  the  DutcH.^^ 

The  history  of  the  slave  trade  to  Jamaica  from  1660  to 

87  C.  O.  29:  1,  f.  116,  Willougliby  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  July  9,  1668. 

38  IMd.,  1 :  25,  f .  62,  memorial  of  some  principal  merchants  trading  to  the 
plantations,   ?1670. 

39  Ibid.,  18,  f.  86,  Modyf ord  and  Colleton  to    (the  Royal  Adventurers)  ; 
C.  0.  1 :  20,  f .  168,  Michael  Smith  to  Richard  Chaundler,  June  11,  1666. 

40  Ihid.,  22,  f .  89,  Willoughby  to  Arlington,  March  2,  1668. 

41  Ibid.,  1 :  22,  f .  53,  proposals  of  the  inhabitants  of  Antigua  to  Governor 
Willoughby,  January  31,  1668. 

42  C.  S.  P.,  Col.  1669-1674,  p.  204,  William  Byam  to  Willoughby,  1670  fj 
C.  O.  1 :  25,  f .  138,  Byam  to  Willoughby,  n.  d. 

43  Ihid.,  17,  f .  219,  Renatus  Enys  to  Bennet,  November  1,  1663. 
^^lUd.,  29:   1,  f,  116,  WiUoughby  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  July  9^ 

1668. 


84  The  Company  of  Hoyal  Adventubeks 

1672  does  not  present  the  number  of  varied  problems  which 
arose  during  the  same  time  in  Barbadoes.  Jamaica  was  as 
yet  more  sparsely  settled  than  Barbadoes  and  therefore 
unable  to  take  as  large  a  number  of  Negroes.  Neverthe- 
less, even  before  1660,  there  was  a  need  for  servants  in 
Jamaica,^^  and  there,  as  in  Barbadoes,  the  Dutch  had  fur- 
nished the  planters  with  Negroes.  When  a  Dutch  ship 
laden  with  180  slaves  appeared  at  the  island  in  June,  1661, 
Colonel  d'Oyley,  the  governor,  who  was  desirous  of  making 
a  personal  profit  out  of  the  sales,  was  strongly  in  favor  of 
permitting  the  vessel  to  land  its  Negroes.  The  Jamaica 
council,  however,  realized  that  the  Navigation  Act  made  the 
Negro  trade  with  the  Dutch  illegal,  and  therefore  it  refused 
to  accede  to  the  governor's  desire.  This  action  so  enraged 
the  governor  that  on  his  own  responsibility  he  purchased 
the  whole  cargo  of  slaves,  some  of  which  he  sold  to  a  Quaker 
in  the  island,  while  the  others  he  disposed  of  at  considerable 
profit  to  a  Spaniard.^^  Again,  in  February,  1662,  d'Oyley 
bought  a  number  of  Negroes  from  another  Dutchman. 
When  one  of  the  king's  ships  attempted  to  seize  the  Dutch 
vessel  for  infringing  the  Navigation  Act,  the  governor  even 
contrived  to  get  it  safely  away  from  the  island.^^ 

When  Colonel  Modyford  became  governor  of  Jamaica  in 
1664,  he  was  instructed  to  do  all  that  he  possibly  could  to 
encourage  the  trade  which  the  Eoyal  Company  was  en- 
deavoring to  set  on  foot  in  the  West  Indies."*^  In  the  in- 
structions mention  was  also  made  of  Modyford 's  previous 
interest  in  managing  the  affairs  of  the  Eoyal  Company  in 
Barbadoes,  for  which  company,  it  was  said,  he  undoubtedly 
retained  great  affection.     Shortly  thereafter  he  issued  a 

*8C.  S.  p.,  CoL,  1675-1676,  Addenda,  p.  125,  Cornelius  Burough  to  the 
Admiralty  Commissioners,  November  28,  1658. 

*6J6{d.,  1661-1668,  p.  36,  narrative  of  the  buying  of  a  shipload  of  Ne- 
groes, June  14,  1661. 

*7  C.  O.  1:16,  f .  77,  Captain  Eichard  Whiting  to  the  officers  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's  navy,  March  10,  1662;  C.  O.  1:  17,  f.  236,  petition  of  Colonel  Godfrey 
Ashbey  and  others  to  the  king,  ?1663. 

*8  75mI.,  18,  f.  58,  instructions  to  Colonel  Modyford,  governor  of  Jamaica, 
February  18,  1664. 


The  Royal  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations      85 

proclamation  promising  extensive  freedom  of  commerce 
except  in  the  Negro  trade  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Royal  Company.*^ 

Although  Modyford^s  proclamation  indicated  a  con- 
tinued interest  in  the  company's  trade,  he  gave  his  first 
consideration  to  the  welfare  of  the  colony.  This  appears 
from  a  list  of  the  island's  needs  which  he  submitted  to  the 
king,  May  10,  1664,  in  which  he  asked  among  other  things 
that  the  Royal  Company  be  obliged  to  furnish  annually 
whatever  Negroes  were  necessary,  and  that  the  poorer 
planters  be  accorded  easy  terms  in  paying  for  them.  Fur- 
thermore he  requested  that  indentured  servants  be  sent 
from  England  and  that  the  island  might  have  freedom  of 
trade  except  in  Negroes.^^  His  desires  for  a  free  trade  were 
denied,  but  the  Privy  Council  agreed  to  consult  with  the 
Royal  Company  and  to  recommend  that  it  be  obliged  to  fur- 
nish Jamaica  with  a  sufficient  supply  of  Negroes.^^ 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  Privy  Council  called  the 
company's  attention  to  Modyford's  request,  nor  is  there 
any  indication  that  it  endeavored  to  send  very  many  Ne- 
groes to  Jamaica.  Modyf  ord  attended  to  a  plantation  which 
the  company  had  bought  in  Jamaica'^^  and  he  sold  a  few 
slaves  to  the  Spaniards,*^^  but  all  the  company's  affairs  in 
the  aggregate  really  amounted  to  little  in  that  island.  There 
was  a  continual  call  for  a  greater  supply  of  Negroes  than 
the  company  sent.^^  Two  ledgers  used  by  the  factors  show 
that  690  Negroes  were  sold  in  1666  and  in  the  following 
year,  170.^^  Although  this  number  was  inadequate  to  meet 
the  colony's  needs,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  company  sent 
any  slaves  to  Jamaica  after  1667. 

*»C.  O.  1:  18,  f.  81,  declaration  of  Sir  Thomas  Modyf  ord,  March  2,  1664. 
ooj&tdf.,  f.  135,  Modyf  ord  to  Bennet,  May  10,  1664. 

51  Ihid.,  f .  208,  report  of  the  Privy  Council  on  Jamaica  affairs,  August  10, 
1664. 

52  A.  C.  E.,  75:  89. 

68  Add.  MSS.,  12,430,  f.  31,  Beeston,  Journal,  February  7,  1664/5. 

6*C.  O.  1:  19,  f.  31,  Lynch  to  Bennet,  February  12,  1665;  ibid.,  f.  189, 
John  Style  to  (Bennet),  July  24,  1665. 

65  A.  C.  R.,  869,  entries  from  January  1,  1665/6  to  December  31,  1666; 
ibid,,  870:  62. 


86  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventueees 

Under  these  circumstances  Modyford  lost  interest  in  the 
company's  affairs  and  therefore  it  resolved,  April  6,  1669, 
to  dispense  with  his  services.  Modyford  had  received  a 
pension  of  three  hundred  pounds  per  year  up  to  Michael- 
mas, 1666,  but  after  that  time  the  company's  financial  con- 
dition no  longer  warranted  this  expense.  The  company 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  displeased  with  Modyford  be- 
cause it  requested  that  he  use  his  good  offices  as  governor 
to  assist  it  in  every  possible  way.  At  the  same  time  the 
services  of  the  other  factor,  Mr.  Molesworth,  were  discon- 
tinued and  he  was  requested  to  send  an  inventory  of  the 
company's  affairs.^^ 

Modyford  thus  free  from  his  connection  with  the  com- 
pany probably  represented  the  desires  of  the  Jamaica  peo- 
ple in  a  more  unbiased  manner.  On  September  20,  1670,  he 
enumerated  a  number  of  needs  of  the  island  and  asked  Sec- 
retary Arlington  that  licenses  to  trade  to  Africa  for  Ne- 
groes be  granted  free  of  charge  or  at  least  at  more  mod- 
erate rates.  For  this  privilege  he  declared  that  security 
could  be  given  that  the  slaves  would  be  carried  only  to 
Jamaica.  The  Royal  Company  itself  could  not  complain 
when  it  realized  how  much  this  freedom  of  trade  would 
mean  toward  the  prosperity  of  Jamaica,  and  thus  ultimately 
to  the  entire  kingdom.^  ^  Modyford  admitted  that  the  Anglo- 
Dutch  war  had  been  a  great  hindrance  to  Jamaica's  pros- 
perity but  that  the  lack  of  Negroes  since  1665  had  been  a 
much  greater  obstruction.^^ 

The  more  insistent  demands  which  Governor  Modyford 
made  in  1670  for  freedom  of  trade  to  Africa  show  that  the 
company's  failure  to  send  Negroes  to  Jamaica  after  1667 
was  beginning  to  be  resented.  Although  there  had  been  a 
constant  demand  for  Negroes  in  Jamaica,  there  was  up  to 
1670  less  need  for  slaves  there  than  in  Barbadoes.    At  least 

66  A.  C.  E.,  75:  14,  &9. 

5TC.  O.  1:  25,  f.  127,  Modyford  to  Arlington,  (September  20,  1670). 

58  C.  S.  P.,  Col.,  1669-1674,  p.  107,  additional  propositions  made  to  the 
Privy  Council  about  Jamaica  by  Charles  Modyford  by  order  of  Sir  Thomas 
Modyford,  (September  28,  1670). 


The  Eoyal.  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations       87 

tlie  demands  made  by  the  planters  of  Jamaica  were  not  so 
frequent  and  so  insistent  as  they  were  in  Barbadoes.  To  a 
certain  extent  the  planters  of  Jamaica  may  have  been  de- 
terred from  representing  the  lack  of  labor  supply  while 
Governor  Modyford  was  one  of  the  company's  factors. 
Modyford  had  been  very  much  interested  in  the  company's 
trade,  especially  with  the  Spanish  colonies.  As  soon  as  it 
became  clear,  however,  that  the  losses  incurred  in  the  Anglo- 
Dutch  war,  would  make  it  impossible  for  the  company  to 
continue  the  slave  trade  to  the  West  Indies,  Modyford  un- 
doubtedly voiced  a  genuine  demand  on  the  part  of  the 
planters  for  more  slaves.  By  the  year  1670  the  island  was 
better  developed  than  it  had  been  ten  years  before  and  the 
/need  for  slaves  was  beginning  to  be  acute.^^ 
.•  y-  About  the  first  of  March,  1662,  two  Spaniards  made  their 
^ '"  appearance  at  Barbadoes  to  make  overtures  for  a  supply  of 
slaves,  which  they  intended  to  transport  to  Peru.  The 
Spaniards  asserted  that  if  they  received  encouragement, 
they  would  come  every  fortnight  with  large  supplies  of  bul- 
lion to  pay  for  the  slaves  which  they  exported.  Sir  Thomas 
Modyford,  the  company's  factor  and  the  speaker  of  the 
Barbadoes  assembly,  was  enthusiastic  about  this  proposi- 
tion and  pointed  out  that  the  trade  with  the  Spanish  col- 
onies would  increase  the  king's  revenue  and  at  the  same 
time  would  deprive  the  Dutch  of  a  lucrative  trade.^^  Since 
they  were  well  treated  on  their  first  visit  to  Barbadoes  the 
Spaniards  returned  in  April,  1662,  at  which  time  they 
bought  four  hundred  Negroes  for  whom  they  paid  from  125 
to  140  pieces  of  eight.^^  When  the  Spaniards  came  to  ex- 
port their  Negroes,  however,  they  found  that  Governor 
Willoughby  had  levied  a  duty  of  eleven  pieces  of  eight  on 
each  Negro.  The  assembly  under  Modyford 's  leadership 
at  once  declared  the  imposition  of  such  a  tax  illegal.  This 
resolution  was  carried  to  the  council  where,  against  the  op- 
position of  the  governor,  it  was  also  passed.     Governor 

5»  C.  O.  1 :  14,  f .  56,  proposal  by  Lord  Marlborough,  1663. 

eo/fcid.,  17,  f.  28,  Thomas  Modyford?  to  his  brother,  March  30,  1662. 

«i  Jftid.,  f.  29,  Thomas  Modyford?  to  his  brother,  April  30,  1662. 


< 


/ 


I 

\ 


88  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers 

Willoughby,  nevertheless,  had  the  temerity  to  collect  the  tax 
on  some  of  the  Negroes  then  in  port,  and  a  little  later  when 
one  of  the  ships  of  the  Royal  Adventurers  sold  its  Negroes 
to  the  Spaniards,  he  again  enforced  the  payment  of  the  ex- 
port tax.^2  Notwithstanding  the  governor's  actions,  Mody- 
ford  despatched  one  of  his  own  ships  with  slaves  to  Car- 
tagena where  it  arrived  safely  and  was  well  treated  by  the 
Spaniards.®^  Modyford  was  now  more  than  ever  convinced 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies, 
but  believing  that  it  could  not  be  conducted  successfully  by 
private  individuals,  he  recommended  that  it  be  settled  on 
the  Royal  Company.^* 

When  the  Royal  Company  learned  that  the  trade  in  Ne- 
groes to  the  Spanish  colonies  offered  many  possibilities  it 
was  very  much  interested.  A  petition  was  immediately  sub- 
mitted to  the  king  requesting  that,  if  the  Spaniards  were 
allowed  to  come  to  Barbadoes  for  slaves,  the  whole  trade  be 
conferred  on  the  Royal  Company.  The  company  declared 
that  the  planters  in  the  colonies  had  no  reason  to  object  to 
this  arrangement  because  they  had  not  engaged  in  this 
trade,  and  moreover  an  opportunity  was  being  offered  to 
them  to  become  members  of  the  company.^^ 

The  Privy  Council  was  favorable  to  the  company's 
proposition,  and  on  March  13,  1663,  the  king  instructed 
Lord  Willoughby  to  permit  the  Spaniards  to  trade  at  Bar- 
badoes for  slaves  notwithstanding  any  letters  of  marque 
that  had  been  issued  against  them,  or  any  provisions  of  the 
Navigation  Act.  He  declared  that  the  Spaniards  were  to 
be  allowed  to  import  into  Barbadoes  only  the  products  of 
their  own  colonies,  and  were  not  to  be  permitted  to  carry 
away  the  produce  of  the  English  colonies.  The  effect  of  this 
provision  was  that  in  addition  to  slaves  the  Spaniards 

«2C.  O.  1:  17,  ff.  29,  30,  Thomas  Modyford?  to  his  brother.  May  26,  1662. 
63  Ihid.,  f.  32,  Thomas  Modyford?  to  his  brother,  September  3,  13,  1662. 
e^Ibid.,  f.  32,  Thomas  Modyford?  to  his  brother,  September  13,  1662. 
65  Hid.,  f.  20,  petition  of  the  Royal  Adventurers  to  the  king,  ?January, 
1663. 


The  Royal.  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations      89 

might  obtain  any  products  imported  into  Barbadoes  from 
England.^^  The  king  settled  the  question  of  duties  on  slaves 
by  ordering  that  ten  pieces  of  eight  on  each  Negro  should 
be  paid  by  all  persons  who  exported  slaves  from  Barbadoes 
or  Jamaica  to  the  Spanish  colonies,  except  the  agents  of  the 
Royal  Company.  The  company  was  to  pay  no  export  duties 
on  Negroes  especially  when  the  Spaniards  had  made  pre- 
vious contracts  for  them  in  England.^^ 

Probably  on  account  of  the  export  duty  on  slaves  which 
Willoughby  had  levied  in  1662,  the  Spaniards  were  not 
anxious  to  return  to  Barbadoes.  The  company  *s  factors 
therefore  sent  one  of  their  ships  with  slaves  to  Terra  Firma 
in  order  to  convince  the  Spaniards  that  their  desire  for  a 
Negro  trade  was  genuine.  On  this  occasion  Lord  Wil- 
loughby and  the  council  of  the  island  exacted  £320  in  cus- 
toms from  the  factors.  When  the  company  heard  of  this 
procedure  it  immediately  asked  the  king  to  enforce  the  order 
allowing  it  to  export  Negroes  free  of  duty.^^  Thereupon 
the  king  ordered  Willoughby  to  make  immediate  restitution 
of  the  £320  and  to  give  the  company  *s  factors  as  much  en- 
couragement as  possible.^^  Willoughby  finally  obeyed  in  a 
sullen  manner.  On  May  20,  1665,  he  declared  that  the  com- 
pany had  finally  monopolized  the  Spanish  trade  for  Ne- 
groes and  that,  because  the  king  refused  to  permit  an  export 
duty  to  be  levied  on  them,  there  was  no  revenue  from  that 
source. "^^  The  king^s  concessions  to  the  Royal  Company 
were  of  little  avail,  however,  because  the  Anglo-Dutch  war 

66  C.  O.  1 :  17,  f .  136,  instructions  to  Lord  Willoughby,  June  16,  1663. 

^T  Ibid,,  f.  227  (the  king  to  the  governors  of  Barbadoes  and  Jamaica), 
March  30,  1663.  That  there  was  some  trouble  in  deciding  just  what  pro- 
visions to  make  regarding  the  Spanish  trade  appears  from  several  unsigned 
and  undated  letters  to  Willoughby  with  conflicting  provisions,  but  they  nearly 
all  mention  the  exception  made  in  favor  of  the  Eoyal  Company  in  the  letter 
of  March  13,  1663.  C.  O.  1:  17,  f.  22;  C.  O.  1:  17,  ff.  24,  25;  C.  O.  1:  17,  ff.  26, 
27;  P.  C.  K.,  Charles  II,  3:  336-338. 

68  C.  O.  1 :  17,  ff.  225,  226,  petition  of  the  Eoyal  Adventurers  to  the  king, 
November,  1663. 

68  Willoughby  made  a  restitution  of  the  £320  in  March,  1664.  C.  O.  1;  18, 
f.  86,  Modyford  and  Colleton  to  (the  Eoyal  Adventurers),  March  31,  1664. 

70  C.  O.  1 :  19,  f .  124,  Willoughby  to  the  king,  May  20,  1665. 


90  The  Company  of  Boyal  Adventubeks 

effectually  stopped  most  of  the  company's  trade  in  Negroes 
including  that  from  Barbadoes  to  the  Spanish  colonies. 

In  considering  the  trade  in  slaves  from  Jamaica  to  the 
Spanish  colonies  it  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  that  this  island 
lay  far  to  the  west  of  all  other  English  possessions  in  the 
West  Indies.  It  was  located  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Span- 
ish possessions  from  which  it  had  been  wrested  in  1655  by 
the  expedition  of  Sir  William  Penn  and  Admiral  Venables. 
The  people  of  the  island  realized  their  isolation  and  occa- 
sionally attempted  to  break  down  the  decrees  of  the  Span- 
ish government,  which  forbade  its  colonies  to  have  any 
intercourse  with  foreigners.  Although  the  English  gov- 
ernment began  a  somewhat  similar  policy  with  respect  to 
its  colonies  in  the  Navigation  Act  of  1660,  it  was  generally 
agreed  that  some  exception  should  be  made  for  the  island 
of  Jamaica  in  connection  with  the  Spanish  trade. 

When  Lord  Windsor  became  governor  of  Jamaica  in 
1662  he  was  instructed  to  endeavor  to  secure  a  free  com- 
merce with  the  Spanish  colonies.  If  the  governors  of  the 
Spanish  colonies  refused  to  grant  this  trade  voluntarily, 
Lord  Windsor  and  the  council  of  the  island  were  given  per- 
mission to  compel  the  Spanish  authorities  to  acquiesce  by 
the  use  of  force  or  any  other  means  at  their  disposal.'^^  Ac- 
cordingly a  letter  embodying  this  request  was  written  to 
the  governors  of  Porto  Eico  and  Santo  Domingo,  but  un- 
favorable replies  were  received.  In  accordance  with  the 
king's  instructions  the  Jamaica  council  determined  to  ob- 
tain a  trade  by  force.'^^  rpj^^g  ^^s  done  by  issuing  letters  of 
marque  to  privateers  for  the  purpose  of  preying^  upon 
Spanish  ships."^^ 

In  the  following  year,  1663,  as  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, Charles  II  commanded  the  governors  of  Barbadoes 

71  C.  O.  1 :  16,  f .  112,  additional  instructions  to  Lord  Windsor,  governor 
of  Jamaica,  April  8,  1662. 

72  C.  S.  P.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  106,  minutes  of  the  council  of  Jamaica, 
August  20,  1662. 

73  A  full  description  of  privateering  by  the  English  against  the  Spaniards 
from  the  year  1660  to  1670  may  be  found  in  an  article  by  Miss  Violet  Barbour 
in  the  American  Historical  Eeview,  XVI:  529-^66. 


The  Royal.  Adventurers  and  the  Plantations      91 

and  Jamaica  to  permit  tlie  Spaniards  to  buy  goods  and  Ne- 
groes in  their  respective  islands,  and  to  refrain  from  charg- 
ing duties  on  these  Negroes  in  case  they  were  reexported 
by  the  agents  of  the  Royal  Adventurers.'^^  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  royal  order  of  April  29,  1663,  commanding  the 
governor  to  stop  all  hostile  measures  against  the  Spaniards. 
Sir  Charles  Lyttleton,  the  deputy  governor,  replied  that  he 
hoped  the  attempt  to  begin  a  trade  with  the  Spaniards 
would  be  successful,  especially  in  Negroes,  which  the  Span-  j 
iards  could  not  obtain  more  easily  than  in  Jamaica.*^^ 

When  Sir  Charles  Modyford  became  governor  of  Ja- 
maica in  1664,  the  king  repeated  his  desire  to  promote  trade 
and  correspondence  with  the  Spanish  plantations.  Indeed 
Modyford 's  previous  success  in  selling  Negroes  to  the 
Spaniards  probably  influenced  his  appointment  to  this 
office.  As  soon  as  Modyford  reached  Jamaica  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  governor  of  Santo  Domingo  informing  him  that 
the  king  had  ordered  a  cessation  of  hostilities  and  desired 
a  peaceful  commerce  with  the  Spanish  colonies."^^  Mody- 
ford instructed  the  two  commissioners  by  whom  the  letter 
was  sent  to  emphasize  the  trade  in  Negroes  and  to  induce 
the  Spaniards,  if  possible,  to  negotiate  with  him  in  regard 
to  this  matter.*^"^  Again  the  answer  of  the  governor  of 
Santo  Domingo  was  unfavorable.  He  pointed  out  that  it 
was  not  within  his  power  to  order  a  commerce  with  Jamaica, 
but  that  this  was  the  province  of  the  government  in  Spain. 
The  governor,  moreover,  complained  that  the  people  of 
Jamaica  had  acted  in  the  same  hostile  manner  toward  the 
Spaniards  since  the  Restoration  as  they  had  in  CromwelPs 
time,  and  therefore  his  people  were  little  inclined  to  begin 
a  trade  with  Jamaica. 

7*C.  S.  p.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  125  (the  king  to  the  governors  of  Barba- 
does  and  Jamaica),  March  13,  1663. 

75  C.  O.  1 :  17,  f .  199,  Sir  Charles  Lyttleton,  deputy  governor,  to  Bennet, 
October  15,  1663. 

"f^Ihid,,  18,  f.  137,  Modyford  to  the  governor  of  Santo  Domingo,  April 
30,  1664. 

IT  Hid.,  f.  139,  Modyford 's  instructions  to  Colonel  Gary  and  Captain 
Perrott,  May  2,  1664, 


92  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 

The  refusal  of  the  Spanish  governor  to  consider  Mody- 
ford's  proposition  seemed  all  the  more  bitter  since  it  was 
well  known  at  that  time  that  the  Spaniards  were  obtaining 
many  Negroes  from  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  The 
Genoese  also  had  a  contract  with  the  Spaniards  to  deliver 
24,500  Negroes  in  seven  years,  nearly  all  of  whom  they  ex- 
pected to  obtain  from  the  Dutch  at  that  *^  cursed  little  bar- 
ren island''  of  Curagao,  as  Sir  Thomas  Lynch  called  it. 
Lynch  also  observed  that  if  the  Eoyal  Company  desired  to 
participate  in  the  Spanish  trade  it  would  either  have  to  sell 
to  the  Genoese  or  drive  the  Dutch  out  of  Africa,  because  he 
did  not  believe  it  was  possible  to  call  in  the  privateers  with- 
out the  assistance  of  several  men-of-war."^^  Just  how  much 
weight  should  be  attached  to  this  opinion  is  doubtful  since 
Lynch  was  probably  so  much  interested  in  continuing  priva- 
teering against  the  Spaniards  that  he  cared  little  how  much 
this  would  interfere  with  the  company's  attempt  to  develop 
the  Negro  trade. 

Lynch 's  opinion  was  not  shared  by  the  king,  who  had 
heard  that  the  privateers  were  continuing  their  hostilities 
against  the  Spaniards.  He  therefore  informed  Modyford 
that  he  could  not  adequately  express  his  dissatisfaction  at 
the  daily  complaints  made  by  the  Spaniards  about  the  vio- 
lence of  ships  said  to  belong  to  Jamaica.  Modyford  was 
strictly  commanded  to  secure  and  punish  any  such  offend- 
gj.g  79  ijij^g  governor  issued  a  proclamation  in  accordance 
with  the  king's  instructions,^^  and  also  notified  the  gover- 
nor of  Havana  that  offenders  against  Spanish  commerce 
would  hereafter  be  punished  as  pirates.^^ 

After  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  began  the  company  im- 
ported very  few  Negroes  to  Jamaica  for  the  Spanish  trade 
or  for  any  other  purpose.    The  king's  stringent  orders  re- 

78  C.  O.  1 :  18,  ff.  152,  153,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Thomas  Lynch  to  Bennet, 
May  25,  1664. 

79  C.  S.  P.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  215,  the  king  to  Modyford,  June  15,  1664. 
so  Ibid.,   p.    220,    proclamation    by    Sir    Thomas    Modyford,    governor    of 

Jamaica,  June  15,  1664. 

81  Ibid.,  p.  228,  minutes  of  the  council  of  Jamaica,  August  19-22,  1664. 


The  Eoyal  Adventukees  and  the  Plantations      93 

garding  privateers  were  gradually  allowed  to  go  unnoticed. 
Modyford  again  began  to  issue  letters  of  marque,  a  pro-  \ 
cedure  which  naturally  destroyed  all  possibility  of  com- 
merce between  the  Spanish  colonies  and  the  Eoyal  Company. 

At  the  time  the  desultory  trade  in  Negroes  was  being 
started  with  the  Spaniards  at  Barbadoes,  Eichard  White, 
of  Spain,  came  to  England  as  an  agent  for  two  Spaniards, 
Domingo  Grillo  and  Ambrosio  Lomoline.^^  These  two 
men  had  been  granted  the  assiento  in  Spain,  that  is,  the 
privilege  of  furnishing  the  Spanish  colonies  with  Negro 
slaves.  In  order  to  wrest  some  of  this  trade  from  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company  the  Eoyal  Company  entered  into  a 
contract  with  White,  in  the  year  1663,  to  furnish  the  Span- 
ish assientists  with  3,500  Negroes  per  year  for  a  definite 
number  of  years.  According  to  this  contract  the  slaves 
were  to  be  delivered  to  the  vessels  of  the  assientists  in  Bar- 
badoes and  Jamaica;  one  of  the  company's  factors  was  to 
be  placed  on  board  such  ships ;  and  the  necessary  safe  con- 
ducts were  to  be  procured  for  their  voyage  to  and  from  the 
port  of  Cadiz.s^  gj^j.  ^iHq  Leighton,  secretary  of  the  Eoyal 
Adventurers,  obtained  permission  for  Grillo 's  agents  to 
reside  in  Jamaica  and  Barbadoes.^^  Sir  Martin  Noell,  one 
of  the  most  important  West  Indian  merchants,  as  well  as 
a  prominent  member  of  the  African  Company,  seems  to 
have  been  intrusted  with  the  collection  of  the  money  due 
on  this  contract.^^ 

Not  long  after  this  agreement  was  made  the  possibility 

82  C.  S.  p.,  Dom.,  1663-1664,  p.  168,  Eichard  White  to  Captain  Weld,  June 
11,  166a. 

83  As  this  contract  cannot  be  discovered  it  is  difficult  to  say  just  when  it 
was  made  or  what  were  its  conditions.  Georges  Scelle  in  his  book.  La  Traits 
Negriere  aux  Indes  de  Castille,  I:  524,  gives  the  date  of  this  contract  as  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1663,  and  says  it  was  for  35,000  Negroes  which  were  to  be  delivered 
at  the  rate  of  5,000  per  year.  This  may  be  true,  but  on  the  other  hand  the 
company  distinctly  declares  in  one  place  that  the  contract  was  for  the  annual 
delivery  of  3,500  Negroes  per  year.  C.  O.  1:  19,  ff.  7,  8,  brief  narrative  of 
the  trade  and  present  condition  of  the  Royal  Adventurers,  1664/5. 

8*  C.  0.  1 :  17,  f .  189,  memorial  of  Sir  Ellis  Leighton  to  the  duke  of  York, 
11663. 

s^Ihid.,  ff.  244,  247;  A.  C.  R.,  75:  48. 


94  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventtjbees 

of  a  war  with  the  Dutch  began  to  appear.    The  company 
considered  ways  by  which  Grillo  might  be  induced  to  miti- 
gate the  contract.^^    Complications  concerning  the  security 
to  be  given  arose,  and  Grillo  complained  that  the  required 
number  of  Negroes  was  not  being  furnished  to  him.    Un- 
der the  circumstances  this  was  almost  impossible  because 
the  outbreak  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  war  made  it  very  difficult 
to  obtain  slaves.    Nevertheless,  on  May  26,  1665,  the  com- 
pany resolved  to  procure  as  many  Negroes  as  possible  to 
fill  the  contract,  providing  Grillo  made  prompt  payments.^'' 
As  may  be  surmised  no  great  number  of  slaves  was  ex- 
ported from  Barbadoes  or  Jamaica  on  this  contract.    Only 
one  ship  arrived  at  Barbadoes  from  Cadiz.    It  desired  to 
secure  one  thousand  slaves,  but  the  company's  factors  could 
obtain  only  eight  hundred.     Lord  Willoughby  carefully 
reported  that  he  had  complied  with  his  Majesty's  command 
not  to  exact  any  export  duty  for  these  slaves.^^    In  Jamaica 
only  a  small  number  of  Negroes  were  sold  on  this  contract 
to  Spanish  ships  which  came  from  Cartagena.^^     There 
may  have  been  other  instances  of  sales  not  recorded,  but  it 
is  certain  that  the  war  interfered  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
number  of  Negroes  sold  to  Grillo  fell  far  short  of  what  the 
contract  called  for.    In  order  to  keep  the  agreement  intact 
the  company  resolved,  March  23,  1666,  to  lay  the  situation 
before  the  king,  and  to  ask  him  to  permit  Grillo 's  agents  to 
buy  sufficient  Negroes  in  the  plantations  to  make  up  the 
required  number,  and  that  no  export  duties  be  charged  on 
them.^^     The  king  complied  with  the  company's  request, 
and  the  desired  orders  were  sent  to  the  governors  of  Ja- 
maica and  Barbadoes.^^     Some  trouble  had  arisen  in  Ja- 
maica, however,  between  Grillo 's  agents   and  Governor 
Modyford.      Since    the    company   believed   that    Grillo 's 

■    86  A.  C.  E.,  75:  15,  August  5,  1664. 
8T  Jbtd.,  75:  34,  May  26,  1665. 

88  C.  O.  1 :  18,  f .  165,  Willoughby  to  the  king,  June  17,  1664. 

89  Add.  MSS.,  12,430,  f .  31,  Beeston,  Journal,  April  8,  1665. 
«o  A.  C.  R.,  75:  43,  March  23,  1665/6. 

WP.  C.  R.,  Charles  II,  5:  3%,  March  30,  1666. 


The  Royali  Abventurees  and  the  Plantations       95 

agents  were  primarily  to  blame  for  this,  it  resolved  in  the 
future  to  deliver  Negroes  only  at  Barbadoes  in  return  for 
ready  money .^^ 

This  was  virtually  the  end  of  the  contract.  In  1667  the 
company  spoke  of  the  agreement  as  having  been  broken 
by  the  Grillos,  and  that  it  was  under  no  further  obligation 
to  carry  out  its  terms.  Altogether,  it  declared,  that  no 
more  than  1,200  Negroes  had  been  delivered  to  Grillo's 
agents.^^  Thus  this  project,  which  the  company  at  first  as- 
serted would  bring  into  the  English  kingdom  86,000  pounds 
of  Spanish  silver  per  year,^^  ended  in  insignificant  fashion. 

Although  the  Grillo  contract  and  the  other  attempts  to 
begin  a  slave  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies  had  proved 
much  less  successful  than  the  Company  of  Royal  Adven- 
turers had  hoped,  a  great  deal  had  been  accomplished 
toward  bringing  to  light  the  fundamental  difficulties  of  this 
trade.  In  the  first  place,  not  much  could  be  accomplished  in 
the  way  of  developing  this  trade  so  long  as  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment maintained  its  attitude  of  uncompromising  hostil- 
ity toward  all  foreigners  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Spanish  colonists  would  gladly  have  welcomed  the  slave 
traders.  Furthermore,  although  the  English  government 
had  signified  its  willingness  to  disregard  the  restrictions  of 
the  Navigation  Acts  in  this  instance,  the  hostile  attitude 
assumed  by  the  planters  toward  the  trade  in  slaves  to  the 
Spanish  colonies  also  had  to  be  taken  into  consideration. 
Whenever  the  planters  were  able  to  do  so  they  endeavored 
to  prevent  the  exportation  to  the  Spanish  colonies  of  slaves 
which  they  maintained  were  very  much  needed  on  their  own 
plantations. 

This  opposition  to  the  trade  in  Negroes  to  the  Spanish 
colonies  was  only  one  of  the  several  ways  in  which  the  col- 

92  A.  C.  E.,  75:  46;  Add.  MSS.,  12,430,  f.  31,  Beeston,  Journal,  February 
7,  1664/5. 

»3  Answer  of  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers  ...  to  the  Petition  .  .  . 
exhibited  ...  by  Sir  Paul  Painter. 

«4  C.  O.  1 :  19,  ff .  7,  8,  brief  narrative  of  the  trade  and  present  condition 
of  the  Royal  Adventurers,  1664/5. 


96  The  Company  of  Eoyal.  Adventukeks 

onists  manifested  their  hostility  toward  the  mercantile  ele- 
ment in  general  and  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers  in 
particular.  Freedom  of  trade  with  all  the  world  seemed 
very  desirable  to  the  planters,  who  regarded  the  restrictions 
of  the  Navigation  Acts  as  gross  favoritism  and  partiality 
to  the  rising  mercantile  class.  The  monopoly  of  supplying 
the  colonies  with  slaves,  conferred  upon  the  Company  of 
Eoyal  Adventurers,  was  most  cordially  hated  on  account  of 
the  great  degree  of  dependence  placed  upon  slave  labor  in 
the  plantations.  As  a  result  of  this  conflict  of  interests  the 
planters  early  resorted  to  numerous  devices  such  as  the 
laws  for  the  protection  of  debtors,  to  embarrass  the  com- 
pany in  the  exercise  of  its  monopoly.  Since  the  company 
had  received  its  exclusive  privileges  by  a  charter  from  the 
crown  the  English  planters  in  the  West  Indies  soon  found 
that  their  trouble  with  the  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventurers 
brought  them  also  into  direct  conflict  with  the  king.  In  this 
way  the  planters  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  among  the 
first  to  begin  the  opposition  which  later,  in  the  Great  Eevo- 
lution,  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  James  II  and  the  royal 
prerogative. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  records  of  the  English  African  companies  are  de- 
posited among  the  Treasury  Papers  of  the  Public  Record 
Office  in  London.  They  have  been  catalogued  by  Mr.  Hilary 
Jenkinson.  The  records  of  the  company  described  in  this 
book  are  very  meager.  A  Home  Journal,  giving  the  amount 
of  money  subscribed  by  various  adventurers  and  the  car- 
goes of  ships,  is  the  only  record  left  by  the  original  adven- 
turers from  1660-1663.  From  1664  to  1672  a  single  volume 
gives  the  minutes  of  the  general  court  and  of  the  court 
of  assistants.  This  volume  is  by  far  the  most  important 
of  the  company's  books.  The  journals  and  ledgers  for 
Barbadoes,  Jamaica  and  the  Gambia  River  are  of  no  par- 
ticular value.  In  general,  however,  the  internal  history  of 
the  company  depends  upon  the  eleven  manuscript  volumes 
of  this  collection. 

In  the  Public  Record  Office  the  Foreign  State  Papers, 
particularly  those  for  the  United  Provinces,  were  of  great 
value  in  working  out  the  Anglo-Dutch  trouble  on  the  Afri- 
can Coast.  The  records  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty 
are  also  valuable  for  that  purpose.  For  the  relations  of 
the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  to  the  planters  in  the 
West  Indies  the  Colonial  Papers  are  not  extensive,  but 
they  are  invaluable. 

Volumes  2537  and  2538  of  the  Egerton  manuscripts  and 
certain  volumes  of  the  Additional  Manuscripts  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum  contain  considerable  correspondence  on  the 
events  leading  up  to  the  Anglo-Dutch  war. 

In  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  the  Clarendon  State 
Papers  include  the  correspondence  of  the  earl  of  Claren- 
don with  Sir  George  Downing,  the  English  representative 
at  The  Hague.  These  letters  supplement  the  material  in 
the  Record  Office  which  deals  with  Anglo-Dutch  relations. 

97 


98  The  Company  of  Eoyal  Adventubees 

In  the  Eijks  Archief  at  The  Hague  are  further  sources 
for  the  same  matter.  In  Louis  Dammaert's  journal;  Index 
op  het  register  der  contracten  en  accorden  met  de  naturel- 
len;  Papieren  van  Johan  de  Witt  betreffende  de  Oost  en 
West  Indische  Compagnie,  1658-1665;  and  Loketkas, 
Staten  Generaal,  Engelant,  one  gets  a  mass  of  material 
hitherto  almost  untouched  concerning  the  trouble  of  the 
English  and  Dutch  companies  on  the  African  Coast. 

Of  the  material  which  has  been  published  the  author 
has  found  the  following  books  to  be  especially  valuable: 
Pepys,  Diary;  Hakluyt,  Principal  Navigations;  the  calen- 
dars of  State  Papers;  Villaut,  Eelation  of  the  Coasts  of 
Africa;  Brandt,  Vie  de  Michel  de  Ruiter;  Diederich,  Her- 
zog  Jacobs  von  Kurland  Kolonien  an  der  Westkiiste  von 
Afrika;  Japikse,  Verwikkelingen  tusschen  de  Eepubliek  en 
Engeland;  and  Scott,  Joint  Stock  Companies. 

Manusckipt  Matekial 

British  Public  Eecord  OFriCB 

Home  Journal  for  individual  ships,  A.  C.  E.,  309.    1660-1663. 

Home  Journal  for  individual  ships,  A.   C.  E.,   1221.     1660-1663.     Same   as 

above. 
Minute  book  of  the  General  Court  and  Court  of  Assistants,  A.  C.  E.,  75.    1664- 

1672. 
Barbadoes  Ledger,  A.  C.  E.,  646.     1662-1664. 
Jamaica  Ledgers,  A.  C.  E.,  869,  870.     1665-1669. 
Gambia  Journals,  A.  C.  E.,  544,  545.     1665,  1666. 
Gambia  Le'dgers,  A.  C.  E.,  827,  828,  829.     1665,  1666. 
Admiralty  Eecords,  Navy  Board,  In-Letters,  Volumes  3-10.     1661-1665. 
C.  O.  1:  14-29.     America  and  West  Indies,  General  Series.     1660-1672. 
C.  O.  29 :  1.     Barbadoes,  Entry  Book. 

C.  O.  324:  1,  2.     Plantations  General,  Entry  Book.     1662-1681. 
C.  O.  388:  1,  2.    Board  of  Trade,  Commercial.     1654-1692. 
Foreign  Entry  Books,  173,  176.     Minutes  of  the  Foreign  Committee  and  the 

King's  Letter  Book. 
High  Court  of  Admiralty,  Libels.     1661-1664. 
High  Court  of  Admiralty,  Examinations.     1661-1664. 
State  Papers,  Domestic,  Charles  II.     1660-1672. 
State  Papers,  Denmark,  Volume  17.     1660-1665. 
State  Papers,  Holland,  Volumes  163-192.     1660-1672. 
State  Papers,  Portugal,  Volumes  5-7.     1660-1666. 
State  Papers,  Sweden,  Volumes  5,  6.     1660-1668. 


BlBLIOGBAPHY  99 

Privy  Council  Office 
The  Eegister  af  the  Privy  Council,  Charles  II.    1660-1672. 

The  British  Museum 
Additional  Manuscripts,  Volume  12,430,  Journal  of  Sir  William  Beeston.    1664, 

1665. 
Additional  Manuscripts,  Volumes  22,919,  22,920,  Correspondence  of  Downing, 

Bennet,  Clarendon  and  Nicholas.    1662-1664. 
Egerton  Manuscripts,  Volumes  2537,  2538.     1661,  1662. 

The  Bodleian  Library 
The  Clarendon  State  Papers,  Volumes  74-108.     1661-16©5. 

The  Eijks  Archief 
Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  Generaal.    1661-1664. 
Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  den  Eaadspensionaris.     1603-65. 
Brieven  van  de  Ambassadors  in  Engeland  aan  de  Staten  van  Holland  en  West 

Friesland.     1661-1664. 
Journal  gehouden  bij  Louijs  Dammaert  met  't  schip  Pruis.     1652. 
Lias,  Westindien.     1658-1665. 

Loketkas,  Staten  Generaal,  Engeland.     1663;  Sweden.     1659. 
Papieren  van  Johan  de  Witt  betreffende  de  Cost  en  West  Indische  Compagnie. 

1658-1659. 
Eesolutions  of  the  States  General. 
Secretekas,  Engeland,  number  123. 

Published  Mateeial 
I.  Original  Sources  and  First-hand  Narratives 

Acts  of  the  Privy  Council.     Colonial  Series.     Edited  by  W.  L.  Grant,  James 

Munro,  and  Almerie  W,  Fitzroy.    London,  190&-12.     6  vols. 
Aitzema,  Lieuwe  van.  Vermeedert  Verhael  van  de  vreedehandelingh  der  Ver- 

eenighde  Nederlanden,  zedert  den  jare  1621  tot  1626.     's  Graven -Hage, 

1655-1671.     13  vols. 
Articles  of  Peace  &  Alliance  between  .  .  .  Charles  II  .  .  .  and  the  High  and 

Mighty  Lords,  the  States  General  of  the  United  Netherlands,  concluded 

the  4th  day  of  September,  1662.     London,  1662. 
Articulen  van  Vrede  ende  Confoederatie,  gheslooten  tusschen  den  doorluchtig- 

sten  Coningh  van  Portugael,  ter  eenre,  ende  de  Hoogh  Mogende  Heeren 

Staaten   Generael    van   Vereenighde   Nederlanden,    ter   andere   zyde.      's 

Graven-Hage,  1663. 
Calendar  of  State  Papers.    Domestic  Series,  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.    Edited 

by  John  Bruce,  William  Douglas  Hamilton,  and  Sophie  C.  Lomas.     23 

vols. 
,  Domestic  Series,  during  the  Commonwealth.     Edited  by  Mary  Anne 

Green.     13  vols. 
,  Domestic  Series,  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.     Edited  by  Mary  Anne 


Green  and  F.  B.  Blackbourne  Daniell.     19  vols. 


100  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventubees 

Calendar  of  State  Papers.  Colonial  Series,  America  and  West  Indies.  Edited 
by  W.  Noel  Sainsbury,  Hon.  J.  W.  Fortescue,  and  Cecil  Headlam.     20  vols. 

Calendar  of  Treasury  Books,  1660-1679.     Edited  by  W.  A.  Shaw.     5  vols. 

Carr,  Cecil  Thomas.  Select  Charters  of  Trading  Companies.  Publications  of 
the  Selden  Society.     London,  1913. 

Cawston,  George  and  Keane,  A.  H.  The  Early  Chartered  Companies.  London 
and  New  York,  1896. 

A  Collection  of  Letters  for  the  Improvement  of  Husbandry  &  Trade.  (Edited) 
by  J.  Houghton.     London,  1681-1683.     2  vols. 

Collections  relating  to  the  Family  of  Crispe.  (Made  by  Frederick  A.  Crisp.) 
(London),  1882-1807.     5  vols. 

Corps  Universel  Diplomatique  du  Droit  des  Gens;  contenant  un  recueil  des 
traitez  d 'alliance,  de  paix  faits  en  Europe,  depuis  le  regne  de  I'Empereur 
Charlemagne  jusques  a  present.  Edited  by  J.  Dumont^  Baron  de  Carls- 
croon.     La  Haye,  1726-1731.     8'  vols. 

Eannes  de  Zurara,  Gomes.  The  Chronicle  of  the  Discovery  and  Conquest  of 
Guinea.  Translated  and  edited  by  C.  E.  Beazley  and  E.  Prestage.  Publi- 
cations of  the  Hakluyt  Society.     London,  1896.    2  vols. 

Estrades,  Godefroi  d'.  Lettres,  Memoires  et  Negociations  de  Monsieur  le 
Comte  d 'Estrades,  tant  en  quality  d 'Ambassadeur  de  S.  M.  T.  C.  en  Italie, 
en  Angleterre  et  en  Hollande.  (Edited  by  P.  Marehand.)  Londres,  1743. 
9  vols. 

The  Golden  Coast,  or  a  Description  of  Guinney.      London,  1665. 

Hyde,  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon.  The  History  of  the  reign  of  King  Charles 
the  Second,  from  the  Eestoration  to  the  end  of  the  year  1667.  (Edited 
by  J.  Shebbeare.)     (London,  1757?)  2  vols. 

Journals  of  the  Assembly  of  Jamaica,  from  January  the  20th,  1663/4  (to  the 
22nd  of  December,  1826).     Jamaica,  1811-1829.     14  vols. 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Lords. 

M(arees),  P(ieter)  d(e).  Description  et  r^it  historial  du  riche  royaume  d'or 
de  Gunea,  aultrement  nomm6,  la  coste  de  I'or  de  Mina.  Amsterdamm©, 
1605. 

The  Manuscripts  of  the  House  of  Lords.  New  Series.  London,  1900-12.  6 
vols. 

Pepys,  Samuel.  The  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  transcribed  from  the  shorthand 
manuscript  in  the  Pepsian  Library,  Magdalene  College,  Cambridge.  Edited 
by  Henry  B.  Wlieatley.    London,  1903-1904.     9  vols. 

The  Principal  Navigations,  Voyages,  Traffiques,  &  Discoveries  of  the  English 
Nation.    Collected  by  Eichard  Hakluyt.    Glasgow,  1903  to  1905.    12  vols. 

Purchas,  Samuel.  Hakluytus  Posthumus;  or,  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,  con- 
tayning  a  history  of  the  world  in  sea  voyages  and  land  travells  by  Eng- 
lishmen and  others.    Glasgow,  1905  to  1907.    20  vols. 

Villaut,  Ni<Jolas,  Sieur  de  Bellefond.  A  Eelation  of  the  Coasts  of  Africa  called 
Guinee.     (Translated  from  the  original  French.)     London,  1670. 

Witt,  Jan  de.  Brieven  geschreven  ende  gewisselt  tusschen  de  Heer  Johan  de 
Witt  .  .  .  ende  gevolmaghtigden  van  den  Staedt  der  Vereenigde  Neder- 
landen.     Gravenhage,  1723-1725.     7  vols.  \ 


BlBLIOaRAJPHY     \  \'  ''  ]  I'l  f^'-  \ /^\        101 

II.  General  References  and  Secondary  Sources 

Andrews,  Charles  M.  Guide  to  the  Materials  for  American  History,  to  1783, 
in  the  Public  Record  Office  of  Great  Britain.  Washington,  1912-14.  2 
vols. 

Andrews,  Charles  M.,  and  Davenport,  Frances  G.  Guide  to  the  Manuscript 
-Materials  for  the  History  of  the  United  States  to  1783,  in  the  British 
Museum,  in  minor  London  Archives,  and  in  the  Libraries  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.     Washington,  1908. 

Barbour,  Violet.  Henry  Bennet,  the  First  Earl  of  Arlington.  Washington, 
1914. 

.  Privateers  and  Pirates  of  the  West  Indies.  American  Historical  Re- 
view, Vol.  16,  pp.  529-566.     1911. 

Beer,  George  Louis.  The  Old  Colonial  System.  Part  I.  The  Establishment 
of  the  System,  1660-1688.     New  York,  1912.     2  vols. 

Blok,  P.  J.  History  of  the  People  of  the  Netherlands,  translated  by  Ruth 
Putnam  and  O.  A.  Bierstadt.    New  York  and  London,  18'98--1912.     5  vols. 

Brandt,  Gerrit  (the  elder).  La  Vie  de  Michel  de  Ruiter,  traduite  du  Hol- 
landois  (by  Aubin).     Amsterdam,  1698. 

Darmstaedter,  Paul.  Geschichte  der  Auftheilung  und  Kolonisation  Afrikas 
seit  d€m  Zeitalter  der  Entdeckungen.  Volume  I.  Berlin  and  Leipzig, 
1913. 

Diederichs,  H.  Herzog  Jacobs  von  Kurland  Kolonien  an  der  Westkiiste  von 
Afrika.     Mitau,  1890. 

Ellis,  A.  B.     A  History  of  the  Gold  Coast  of  West  Africa.     London,  1893. 

George,  Claude.  The  Rise  of  British  West  Africa:  comprising  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  the  Gambia,  Lagos,  Gold  Coast,  etc. 
London,  1903   (1902). 

Gramberg,  J.  S.  G.     Schetsen  van  Afrika 's  Westcust.     Amsterdam,  1861. 

,   De  Gids.     Derde   Serie.     Zesde  Jaargang.     Volume  4,  pp.   383-407. 

De  Goudkust. 

Haring,  Clarence  Henry.  The  Buccaneers  in  the  West  Indies  in  the  XVII 
Century.     London,   1910. 

Japikse,  Nicolaas.  De  Verwikkelingen  tusschen  de  Republiek  en  Engeland  van 
1660-1665.     Leiden,  1900. 

,  Johan  de  Witt.  Nederlandsche  Historisehe  Bibliotheek,  IX.  Amster- 
dam, 1915. 

Jenkinson,  Hilary.  The  Records  of  the  English  African  Companies.  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Historical  Society,  third  series,  volume  6.  London, 
1912. 

Jonge,  Johan  Karel  Jakob  de.  De  Oorsprong  van  Neerland's  Bezittingen  op 
de  Kust  van  Guinea,     's  Gravenhage,  1871. 

Lister,  Thomas  Henry.  Life  and  Administration  of  Edward,  first  Earl  of 
Clarendon.     London,  1837^  1838.     3  vols. 

(Long,  E.).  The  History  of  Jamaica:  or,  general  survey  of  the  antient  and 
modern  state  of  that  island.     London,  1774. 

Lucas,  C.  P.  A  Historical  Geography  of  the  British  Colonies.  West  Africa. 
Oxford,  1900. 

Meredith,  Henry.  An  Account  of  the  Gold  Coast  of  Africa:  with  a  brief  his- 
tory of  the  African  Company.    London,  1812. 


102  fr^EEJ   GOtoANX.OF   HOYAL  Ad VENTURERS 

Poyer,  John.    The  History  of  Barbadoes.    London,  1808. 

Reeve,  Henry  Fenwick.  The  Gambia;  its  history,  ancient,  medieval,  and  mod- 
ern.    London,  1912. 

Scelle,  Georges.  La  Traite  NSgriere  aux  Indes  de  Castille.  Contrats  et  Traites 
d'Assiento.     Paris,  1906.    2  vols. 

Schiick,  Richard.  Brandenburg-Preussens  Kolonial-Politik  unter  dem  Grossen 
Kurfiirsten  und  seinem  Nachfolgern.     (1647-1721.)     Leipzig,  1889. 

Scott,  William  Robert.  The  Constitution  and  Finance  of  English,  Scottish  and 
Irish  Joint-Stock  Companies  to  1720.    Cambridge,  1910-1912.    3  vols. 

Schomburgk,  Sir  Robert  H.     The  History  of  Barbadoes.     London,  1848. 

III.  Pamphlets  and  Tracts 
Answer  of  the  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  of  England  Trading  into  Africa, 

to  the  petition  .  .  .  exhibited  to  the  Honourable  House  of  Commons  by 

Sir  Paul  Painter.     (London),  1667. 
The  Case  of  the  Royal  African   Company  of  England  and   their   Creditors. 

London,  1748. 
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Management  of  the  Trade  to  Africa.^'     (London),  1709. 


INDEX 


Agga,  captured  by  Holmes,  47 
Anamabo,  captured  hj  Halmes,  47 
Anashauy,   English   build   factory    at, 

45 
Anglo-Dutch   war,   causes,   62;    ruins 

the  company's  trade,  90 
Anta,   captured  by   Holmes,  44 

Barbadoes,  condition  in  1660,  73;  re- 
quests free  trade  in  slaves,  74,  79; 
Privy  'Council  denies  petitions  of, 
81;  supply  of  slaves  in,  82;  Span- 
ish trade  for  slaves  at,  87-90 

Bibliography,  97-102 

Breda,  treaty  of,  66 

Cape  Corse,  seized  by  the  Swedes, 
1650,    6;    captured   by  the   Danes, 

1658,  7;    secured    by    the    Dutch, 

1659,  35;  English  factory  at 
burned,  36;  captured  by  the  Dutch, 
1663,  41;  captured  by  Holmes,  47; 
English  claim  to,  45;,  48^  49;  be- 
comes chief  English  fort  on  the 
Gold  Coast,  68 

Cape  Verde,  captured  by  Holmes,  43 ; 

captured  by  DeEuyter,  65 
Carisius,     Danish     resident     at     The 

Hague,  47 
Oarloflf,   Hendrik,  seizes  Cape   Corse, 

7,  34 

"Charles''  and  ''James,"  prevented 
from  trading  on  the  Gold  Coast, 
39;  Downing  demands  reparation 
for^  40,  41,  49 

Charles  II,  relations  to  the  company, 

8,  12,  18,  42;  subscription  to  the 
Company's  stock,  12,  18,  21n; 
sends  Holmes  to  assist  the  com- 
pany, 42;  resolution  to  protect 
the  company,  62;  promises  to  pun- 
ish Holmes,  32,  52;  instructions  to 


'Holmes,  59;  pardons  Holmes,  64; 
encourages  slave  trade  to  the  Span- 
ish colonies,  88-91 

Charter,  African,  1588,  5;  1618,  5; 
1631,  6;  1660,  8;  1663,  12;  1672, 
27 

Clarendon,  earl  of,  praises  the  com- 
pany, 16 

Colleton,,  Sir  Peter,  agent  in  Barba- 
does, 75 

Commercial  element,  ;  responsibility 
for  the  Anglo-Dutch  war,  63;  and 
the  colonies,  96 

Courland,  duke  of,  possessions  on  the 
Gambia  Eiver,  29^31;  surrenders 
St.  Andre  to  the  English,  34 

Crispe,  Sir  Nicholas,  interloper,  6; 
founds  Kormentine,  6;  cedes  Afri- 
can interests  to  the  company,  14-16 

Cura^aOj  Dutch  trade  at,  83,  92 

Danes,  on  the  Gold  Coast,  7,  34; 
claims  to  Cape  Corse,  47,  48;  cede 
Cape  Corse  to  the  Dutch,  66n 

DeEuyter,  Admiral,  ordered  to  the 
African  coast,  55,  56;  activities  on 
the  African  coast,  61,  G5,  66 

DeWittj  John,  negotiations  with 
Downing,  48-52,  53-56,  59;  com- 
pared to  Downing,  62 

Downing,  Sir  George,  negotiations  at 
The  Hague,  32,  37,  39-41,  47-52, 
60;  compared  to  DeWitt,  62;  re- 
sponsibility for  the  Anglo-Dutch 
war,  63 

d'Oyley,  Colonel,  governor  of  Ja- 
maica, 84 

Dutch,  treaty  with  the  Portuguese, 
1661,  2,  28;  blockade  the  Gold 
Coast,  35,  39,  49;  capture,  English 
ships,  36;  commercial  treaty  with 
the  English,  1662,  38 


103 


104 


Index 


Dutch  West  India  Company,  formed, 
2;  secures  Fort  St.  Andre,  29  j 
protests  against  Holmes'  actions, 
31,  51 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  interest  in  early 
voyages  to  Africa,  3,  4;  grants 
first  monopoly  to  west  coast  of 
Africa,  5 

Elmina,  captured  by  the  Dutch,  1637, 
2;  chief  fort  of  the  Dutch,  34 

Ereckson;,  Bernard,  Dutch  navigator, 
1 

Factories,  English,  on  the  G'old  Coast, 

46 
Ford,  Sir  Eichard,  25 
Fredericksburg,   Danish  fort,   35,   36 

Gambia  Adventurers,  22,  23 
"Golden    Lyon,"    prevents    English 
ships    from    trading   on    the    Gold 
Coast,    39;     captured    by    Holmes, 
44;    granted   to   the  company,   2  In 
Goree,  bought  by  the  Dutch,  1 
Grillo,   Domingo,    contract   to    supply 
slaves  to  the  Spanish  colonies,  93- 
95 
Guineas,  first  coined,  18 

Hawkins,  John,  voyages  to  West 
Africa,  4 

Hawkins,  William,  voyages  to  Af- 
rica, 3 

Holder^  Thomas,  treasurer  of  the 
company,  lOn 

Holmes,  Captain  Eobert,  expedition 
to  West  Africa,  1660,  10,  11,  30, 
31;  second  expedition,  18^,  42-47; 
seizes  Boa  Vista,  30;  before  the 
Privy  Council,  33;  return  from  the 
second  expedition  to  West  Africa, 
63,  64 

Interlopers,  76 

Jamaica,  company  ^s  trade  to,  83-87; 
supply   of   slaves   at,   85-87;    Gov- 


ernor Modyford  asks  for  free  trade 

in  slaves  at,  86 
James,  duke  of  York,  helps  to  found 

the   company^   8;    elected   governor 

of,   13;    helps   to   form   the   Eoyal 

African  Company,  26 
James  Island,  settled,  10 

Komenda,  English  build  factory  at, 
68 

Kormentine,  founded,  1624,  5;  cap- 
tured by  DeEuyter,  65 

Leeward  Islands,  company's  trade  to, 
83 

Licenses  to  trade  on  African  coast, 
21,  22,  69 

Lynch,  Sir  Thomas,  interest  in  pri- 
vateering, 92 

''Mary,"  captured  by  the  Dutch^ 
44;  Downing  demands  reparation 
for,  49,  50 

Mauree,  ceded  to  the  Dutch,  1 

Modyford,  Sir  Thomas,  agent  in  Bar- 
badoes,  74;  becomes  governor  of 
Jamaica,  75,  84;  requests  free 
trade  in  slaves  at  Jamaica,  86; 
encourages  the  slave  trade  to  the 
Spanish  colonies,  87,  88 

Member,  Henry,  Courland  comman- 
der at  St.  Andre,  29 

Navigation  Acts,  planters  complain 
of,  73;  Charles  II  makes  an  ex- 
ception for  Spanish  trade  in  slaves, 
88 

Noell,  Sir  Martin,  merchant,  93 

Painter,   Sir   Paul,   presents    petition 

for  free  trade  in  Negroes,  79,  80 
Pepys,    Samuel,    predicts    war    with 

the  Dutch,  50,  54 
Portuguese,    on    the    West    African 

coast,  1,  2^  28 
Privateering,    against    the   Spaniards 

from  Jamaica,  90-93 

Eeid,  John,  agent  in  Barbadoes,  75 


Index 


105 


Royal  Adventurers,  Company  of, 
charter  of  1660,  8-10;  charter  of 
1663,  12-14;  shareholders,  12,  13, 
17;  subscriptions  to  the  stock  of, 
12,  16i,  17j  19 ;  finances  of,  11,  12, 
17-20;  trade  of,  11,  53,  57,  58,  71; 
creditors  of,  24-27;  grants  trading 
licenses,  21,  22,  69;  secures  mon- 
opoly of  lotteries  from  the  king, 
18n;  reorganization  of,  24^27 
Royal  African  Company,  formed,  27 
Rupert,  Prince^  on  the  Gambia  River, 
1652,  8;  helps  to  found  the  Com- 
pany of  Royal  Adventurers,  1660,  8 


St.  Andre,  seized  by  Holmes,  10;  se- 
cured by  the  Dutch,  29;  regained 
by  the  Courlanders,  30;  surren- 
dered to  Holmes,  31;  surrendered 
to  the  English,  34 

St.  John,  Sir  William,  builds  first 
English  fort  in  West  Africa,  6 

Santo  Diomingo,  English  attempt  to 
secure  trade  in  slaves  to^  90,  91 

Selwin,  Francis,  English  chief  at 
Kormentine,  45 

Selwin,  Francis,  English  chief  at 
Kormentine,  45 

Senegal  Adventurers,  charter  of,  5 

Sestos,  despoiled  by  Holmes,  44 

Slaves,  Hawkins  begins  English 
trade  in,  4,  5;  as  plantation  labor- 
ers, 71-73;  sale  ot  74,  79;  supply 
of  in  Barbadoes,  82;  supply  of  in 
Jamaica,  86,  87;  trade  in  to  Span- 
ish colonies,  87-95 

Spanish  trade,  in  slaves,  87-95 

Steele,  Otto,  surrenders  St.  Andr€  to 
Holmes,  30,  31 


Surinam,  company's  trade  to,  83 
Swedes,  on  the  Gold  Coasts  6,  7,  34; 

negotiations  to  cede  Cape  Corse  to 

Dutch,  66n 

Tacorary,  English  build  factory  at, 
38 

Towrson,  William,  voyages  to  West 
Africa,  3 

Trade,  character  of  African,  11,  23, 
28 

Treaty,  between  Dutch  and  Portu- 
guese, 1661,  2;  commercial,  be- 
tween the  Englis.h  and  Dutch,  1662, 
38;  between  the  English  and 
Dutch,  1667,  66 

Valckenburg,  Dutch  general,  claims 
entire  Gold  Coast,  44,  45 

VanGogh,  Dutch  ambassador  in  Lon- 
don, 52,  58 

Van  Heusden,  Jasper^  director  gen- 
eral of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  on  the  Gold  Coast,  34 

Villaut,  Nicolas,  voyage  to  the 
Guinea  coast,  67 

West  India  Company,  see  Dutch 
West  India  Company 

''William  and  Jane,"  interloping 
vessel,  76-78 

Willoughby,  governor  of  Barbadoes, 
74,  78;  opposes  Spanish  trade  in 
slaves,  8'7-89 

Wilree,  Dirck,  Dutch  general,  block- 
ades the  Gold  Coast,  39 

Windsor,  Lord,  governor  of  Jamaica, 
90 


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